widespread efforts to deconstruct inherited terminology. Statements such as
‘religion is a Western construction and therefore inapplicable elsewhere’ are
simply examples of poor reasoning. But it is not poor reasoning to ask about
each of our categories, including ‘religion’, what Vineeta Sinha (2006) has asked
about ‘folk Hinduism’: ‘Given that the category was generated in a particular
sociocultural, historical context in relation to a specific research agenda, what
is its relevance in analysing phenomena in vastly different circumstances?’
Posing that question is nothing more than standard scholarly practice in every
field, provided one does not prejudge the answer. For ‘religion’, at least, the
current consensus seems to favor keeping it.
Where some see difficulties, others see opportunities. Some opportunities
for a global study of religion are institutional: the opportunity to include
representatives from various parts of the world on governing bodies; the
opportunity to design conferences with keynote speakers who do not originate
from or work in Europe or North America, as when, at the nineteenth Congress
of the IAHR (Tokyo, 2005) scholars from China (Zhuo Xinping) and Japan
(Shizuteru Ueda) as well as from Europe and North America gave plenary
addresses. Other opportunities are intellectual. People recite their pasts in part
to say who they are today. Scholars of religions who simply trace the study
of religions to the arrival of Europeans or European thought in their regions
overlook opportunities to explore earlier traditions of thought. For example,
prior to European colonialism West Africans produced a rich literature in
Arabic on religions, along with many other topics. The first Ming emperor,
Ming Taizu (1328–1398), wrote a treatise on religion (Pye 2004: 91). In this
volume Patrice Brodeur provides a rich account of the ‘proto-history’ of the
study of religion in North Africa and West Asia, including the work of al-
ShahrastÇn¥(1076–1153), who, according to some, wrote the world’s first
history of religions. Exploring such predecessors may in turn open up
opportunities to explore distinctive objects, methods, and theories.
The success with which scholars worldwide make use of opportunities for
a global study of religion depends in part upon the seriousness with which we
recognize challenges within them. One significant challenge is the unequal
distribution of wealth and power throughout the world, a point that Ezra
Chitando emphasizes. On the whole, scholars from poorer nations find it more
costly in terms of percentage of income and wealth, and therefore more
difficult, to participate in international activities than scholars from richer
nations do. Without significant support, these scholars will inevitably have
limited voice. Poorer regions also face challenges in terms of human capital.
One such challenge arises when a relatively large number of high-profile
scholars understandably take advantage of opportunities to work in richer
countries. Another simply comes from not being able to afford the social or
monetary costs of higher education. Over the last fifty years, an increasing
number of people throughout the world have pursued tertiary education, but318
GREGORY D. ALLES