Craig R. Prentiss is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri.
Summary
Religion and the Creation of Race and Ethnicity is the first collection devoted to demonstrating the role that
religion and myth have played in the creation of the categories of "race" and "ethnicity."
When scholars approach religion and race, they tend to focus on such issues as how African Americans have expressed
Christianity, or how Japanese or Mexicans have lived "religiously." This volume, meant specifically for
those new to the field, brings together an ensemble of prominent scholars and illuminates instead the role religious
myths have played in shaping those very social boundaries that we call "races" and "ethnicities."
It asks, what part did Christianity play in creating "Blackness"? To what extent was Japanese or Mexican
identity itself the product of religious life?
The text, comprised of all original material, introduces readers to the social construction of race and ethnicity
and the ways in which these concepts are shaped by religious narratives. It offers examples from both the U.S.
and around the world, exploring these themes in the context of places as diverse as Bosnia, India, Japan, Mexico,
Zimbabwe, and the Middle East. The volume helps make the case that any account of the social construction of race
and ethnicity will be incomplete if it fails to consider the influence of religious traditions and myths.
