Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion. Researching public discourses on religion; atheism and nonreligion; religion and news media; methodology. Author of Taking "Religion" Seriously (2022) and other books.
https://teemutaira.wordpress.com ..
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Senior Lecturer in the Study of Religion. Researching public discourses on religion; atheism and nonreligion; religion and news media; methodology. Author of Taking "Religion" Seriously (2022) and other books.
https://teemutaira.wordpress.com
Philosophy
31%
Political science
27%
I am working on this slowly, but I wonder if someone writes about religion in Love Is Blind (all countries, all seasons) before me. A new USA season is available.
Gilles Deleuze, "On Painting" (U Minnesota Press, 2025) - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
Two important Deleuze-scholars (Charles Stivale & Daniel Smith) talking about D's recently translated 1981 seminar on painting and other D-related matters. Quite a deep dive. newbooksnetwork.com/on-painting
Joking about what? Supporting nicely executed academic research about international franchise product is certainly different from supporting the representations of gender and race the product contains.
Reading Bond Films through the Lens of “Religion”
| Journal for Religion, Film and Media (JRFM)
jrfm.eu
My contribution to this topic was published seven years ago. Open access: jrfm.eu/index.php/oj...
Contributor’s copy arrived. It’s still exciting, after all these years.
One of my favourite intellectuals still publishing books at the age of 78.
Gen Z churchgoing is actually still declining, new British Social Attitudes Survey shows
New analysis of recently published British Social Attitudes Survey data by Humanists UK has shown that churchgoing, including among Gen Z, has continued its long-term decline. The findings are consist...
humanists.uk
And here's Humanists UK summarizing key issues and critical contributions re "Christian revival" humanists.uk/2026/01/28/g...
Has there been a Christian revival among young adults in the U.K.? Recent surveys may be misleading
Despite the widely recognized decline of Christianity in the U.K., there have been persistent rumblings of a Christian resurgence.
www.pewresearch.org
The debate on "Christian revival" continues. This piece by Conrad Hackett www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/...
I haven't contributed to this, but I will write a promotional endorsement. This should be out later this year.
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Jan 10
Most likely "come as you are", as in Finland.
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Dec 11
More Zizek to the shelf. Some of these are essays on current affairs (politics and other matters), and I like that part of his writing quite a bit.
Reposted by James A. Benn
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Dec 8
Here "critical" means mostly lived religion (i.e. not highlighting texts but what people do). For some, any approach worth the name "critical" means at least problematizing our key term, religion. I gravitate towards the latter, but some contributions in this volume are still useful.
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Dec 2
Leaving Islam in the digital age: reflections on the online trajectories of young nonreligious Tunisians
This article examines the role played by the internet in triggering and maintaining nonreligiosity. Drawing on fieldwork amongst nonreligious Tunisians, I first analyse the presentation of the self...
www.tandfonline.com
Here's the link (not OA): www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Dec 2
This is what scholars want to see: other scholars being inspired by their work and taking it further. This is much more valuable than nice words (although I don't mind someone writing something kind). This is from Yosr ben Slima's "Leaving Islam in the Digital Age" (2025) (see the link in comments)
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 25
Multiple studies in 2025 show that Atheism is on the rise around the world
A collection of major reports and studies published throughout 2025 shows that Atheism is rapidly increasing in popularity around the world.
dallasexpress.com
Just putting this here, 'cos the story contains links to several relevant surveys regarding atheism and nonreligion dallasexpress.com/lifestyle/su...
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 20
The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics in Europe
The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics in Europe is an outstanding reference source to this engaging subject area. A number of developments at the intersection between religion and politics i...
www.routledge.com
Just got an email saying that The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics in Europe (eds by Fokas & Giorgi) has been published. 31 chapters, one of them cowritten by me. www.routledge.com/The-Routledg...
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 17
A Practical Guide to Critical Religion
This book makes critical theory on religion more accessible to both undergraduates and skeptics, showcasing its practical relevance and usefulness to research a…
www.bloomsbury.com
to be published here www.bloomsbury.com/uk/practical...
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 17
New day and a new piece for proofreading. Here's how this chapter begins ("Religionization of Minorities and Culturalization of Christianity: How to Study Boundary-Cases?").
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 15
Kind of. Although this anecdote is not about me and my work in the end. It continues from here and it is about Russell McCutcheon (as is the volume in which the piece will be published).
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 15
The Politics of Classification | Equinox Publishing
<i>Forthcoming, 2025</i><br><br>
This collection brings together an international team of scholars to assess and think with the work of Russell T. McCutcheon. Though McCutcheon is often accused of bri...
equinoxreligionlibrary.com
It is going to be published here equinoxreligionlibrary.com/projects/pol...
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 10
Not really, as far as I can tell. I think that it is more a combination of respect (it is disrespectful to explain one's experiences by something else) and the "location" of religion (the core or essence of religion is in the experiences á la William James and Protestant traditition).
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 9
That can be a factor, but we teach social scientific approaches from the day one, so I tend to think that the issue here is how people learn to think about religion before they go to the university. It takes time to "unlearn".
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 9
Most UG students think that the point of study of religion is to examine deep individual experiences. They think that the danger of theories & methods is that we'll be distanced from such experiences. After graduation, some will think differently. But only some.
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Nov 6
Russell T. McCutcheon, "Our Primary Expertise: A Future for the Study of Religion" (Rutgers UP, 2025) - New Books Network
newbooksnetwork.com
Food for thought for those interested in the (institutional) future(s) of the study of religion. An interview based on Russell T. McCutcheon's "Our Primary Expertise". newbooksnetwork.com/our-primary-...
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Oct 30
Another way of saying, "we are closing programmes and probably sacking some scholars".
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Oct 30
Global Religions courses update - Lancaster University
www.lancaster.ac.uk
Lancaster Uni rhetoric sounds fake to me: "To ensure our Gold-standard teaching develops with the needs of our students, we constantly review [..] our curriculum [..]. As part of this ongoing review, our Global Religions BA courses will not be running in 2026." www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/underg...
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Oct 20
Some recently bought books. Started reading "Disbelief" (2024) by Gervais and now there's a number of commentaries and response in "Religion, Brain and Behavior". I should be doing something else, but this is quite fun. www.tandfonline.com/toc/rrbb20/0/0
Teemu Taira
@teemutaira.bsky.social
· Oct 1
Against the Wind — American Religion
McCutcheon on Manufacturing Religion (2003)
www.american-religion.org
"I do indeed think that the old work remains relevant today but, sadly so, since it signals that not much has changed in all of these years." – Russell T. McCutcheon reflects working on Manufacturing Religion (1997), second edition coming out soon. www.american-religion.org/back-pages/a...