Explores the impact of women's studies on methodology in religious studies.

Methodology in Religious Studies assesses the impact of women's studies on the various methods employed in studying religion. Since its inception in the 1860s, the study of religion as an academic discipline has evolved over time, ranging from the classically historical to the boldly hermeneutical. The women's studies movement has, since the 1980s, become part and parcel of the intellectual landscape of our times, and the study of religion has become increasingly influenced by it. What are the implications of this new development for the methodology of religious studies? Leading practitioners of psychological, theological, sociological, anthropological, phenomenological, historical, and hermeneutic approaches examine the mutually enriching interface between religious studies and women's studies, as they explore the broader issue of the interaction between method and the nature of the subject itself.

Arvind Sharma is Birks Professor of Comparative Religion at McGill University. His books include Religious Ferment in Modern India (with H. W. French, 1981), The Gītārthasangraha of Abhinavagupta (1982), The Hindu Gītā (1986), A Hindu Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion (1991), and A Buddhist Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion (forthcoming) .

Arvind Sharma's profile page

"It is fascinating to see how authors from quite diverse perspectives show us how feminist thought has impacted their fields. This will be an important book in the field on several levels. Firstly, it could be used across a wide variety of disciplines as well as in women's studies or religious studies. Secondly, it contributes to the understanding of method in general. Finally, it addresses an important gap in our discourse about feminist thought, about how to trace its contribution, and how to then replicate its methodological claims." — Laurie Zoloth, San Francisco State University