Lived Religion and Lived Development in Contemporary Society: Essays in Honour of Wilhelm Gräb

Based on the notion of lived religion, the volume seeks to elucidate the role of religion in contemporary society in an international and interdisciplinary perspective. It draws its inspiration from the works of Wilhelm Gräb, who in his contribution to scholarship has emphasized and shaped the notion of lived religion as a basis for empirical and theoretical approaches to the study of religion. A lot of research has been conducted on the contribution of religious communities to development. Moreover, the literature has scrutinized religious communities’ normative notions on development, i.e., what in different theological perspectives can be seen as desirable ‘development’ outcomes – for instance notions of a good life or of human flourishing. In both cases, most of the work in the field has focused on institutionalized religion and religious tenets and theologies. Perspectives of religion as it is lived by people on the ground have thus far received less attention. This book provides an innovative angle to the religion and development research and literature. Transposing the notion of lived religion to the concept of development, one might be able to also speak of ‘lived development’. Moving beyond the dominant paradigms of global development, this volume raises the question how development is conceptualized, enacted and practiced on the ground. This concerns not least the question what is seen as desirable lives for individuals, communities, societies and the world as a whole. It is precisely at this point where lived religion and lived development intersect. Title page Copyright Table of Contents Foreword Introduction 1. Philipp Öhlmann, Ignatius Swart, Birgit Weyel, Simangaliso Kumalo, Marie-Luise Frost: Lived Religion and Lived Development in Contemporary Society 2. Wilhelm Gräb: Lived Religion as a Hermeneutical Lens, or a Decolonial Approach to Religion and Development Lived Theology: Engagements with Wilhelm Gräb’s Work 3. Birgit Weyel: Practical Theology in Conversation with Wilhelm Gräb 4. Paul Sörgel: Gelebte Religion und ihr Potenzial für das Utopisch-Imaginäre. Wilhelm Gräb oder das Ziel des Phantastischen 5. Jennifer Marcen: Sind wir gemeinsam – oder doch allein? Wilhelm Gräbs Sinnhermeneutik in Anwendung auf das Erleben von SchmerzpatientInnen 6. Notger Slenczka: The Christian as Actor 7. Torsten Meireis: Enlightened Decoloniality? Lived Religion: Cases from Practical Theology 8. Ayşe Almıla Akca: What Ramadan Is Actually About: 9. Farah Hasan: Transversing Disciplines – Lived Religion in Sociology and Theology 10. Jacques Beukes: Towards a Practical Theology of Social Transformation through the Lens of Lived Theology, Lived Religion and Lived Spirituality 11. Cas Wepener, Johan Cilliers: Lived Liturgy as Lived Religion in a Context of Poverty 12. Hans-Ulrich Probst, Birgit Weyel: Practical Theology, Digital Lived Religion and the Question of Normativity 13. Lars Charbonnier: Lived Religion as a Paradigmatic Concept of Social Work Sensitive to Religion and Culture Lived Theory: Theoretical Approaches to Lived Religion 14. Johann-Albrecht Meylahn: Lived Religious Fictions and Creating Sustainable Livelihoods 15. Trygve Wyller: Building Heterotopias 16. Daniël Louw: Metaverse as a Challenge to “Lived Religion” 17. Dietrich Korsch: Ewiges Leben – Anfang, Ziel und Ende der Entwicklung Lived Development: Religion and Development 18. Nina van der Puije: Self-Determined Development Alternatives in Africa 19. Mangaliso Matshobane: Charismatic Pentecostals in South Africa and Their Natural Inclination towards Development 20. Ezra Chitando, Obert Bernard Mlambo: “Cursed” Goats in the Urban Landscapes of Zimbabwe 21. Denis Mawunyo Adufuli, Kristin Merle: Indigenous Beliefs and the Decolonisation of Development 22. Dietrich Werner: Potentials and Future Priorities in the Discourse on Religion and Development Lived Ecology: Religion, Environment and Sustainability in Africa 23. Kwabena Asamoah-Gyadu: Religious Faith and Ecosystems in Africa 24. Cosmo Mapitsa: Ecological Sustainability as Embodied in Balobedu Traditional Religion 25. Juliane Stork: Climate Change, Indigenous Knowledge and Eco-Theologies in African Initiated Churches Bibliography of Wilhelm Gräb / Bibliographie von Wilhelm Gräb Wilhelm Gräb: A Biographical Note Notes on Contributors Index