"In this new collection of essays, McCutcheon continues his argument for the strategic ways in which scholars develop categories in making sense of the world. Not content with critique, he suggests a way forward, involving seeing not just religion as a routine aspect of social life, but seeing the act of classifying part of the world as unique, necessary, and especially meaningful as a common social strategy that deserves further scrutiny"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Introduction: On fabricating religion -- The category religion in recent publications: twenty years later -- Its (not) easy if you try: the challenge to imagine no religion -- A question (still) worth asking about the religions of man -- Man is the measure of all things: on the fabrication of Oriental religions by European history of religions -- Identifying the meaning and end of scholarship: whats at stake in Muslim identities -- Of concepts and entities: varieties of critical scholarship -- Historicizing the elephant in the room -- The magic of the melancholy: shifting gears in the study of religion -- Fanfare for the common e.g.: on the strategic use of the mundane.

Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on October 05, 2018).

In English.