Religion and the Public Sphere

Abstract This chapter summarizes the major developments in the emergence of debates about public religion and religion in the public sphere, and shows how these originally separate debates began to intersect. It then takes a closer look at examples of electronic mass media and reflects on their role in shaping public religious expression. Electronic media are known for their ability to increase the mobility of religious symbols, foster new religious debates, and emotional engagement, and create new niche publics that can connect with other broader national or global publics. Using examples from Islam and Hinduism and discussing televised sermons, the proliferation of sermons on audiocassettes, and religious soap operas, the text demonstrates how electronic media have contributed to the re-mediatization and re-politicization of religion and discusses the implications of this development for the conceptualization of public space.