Porous religious economies and the problem of regulating religious marketplaces

• Main Author: WOODS, Orlando
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2020
• Subjects: Religious economy; religious networks; regulation; Singapore; China.; Asian Studies; Religion
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3205; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4462/viewcontent/RRCS_Porous_Religious_Economies_sv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This paper reframes the theory of religious economy by developing an understandingof the effects of transnational religious influence on religious marketplaces. It highlightsthe need to rethink the role of regulation in shaping the ways in which religiousmarketplaces operate. By reinterpreting regulation as the ability of the state to controlthe extent to which religious groups are able to access resources, it argues thattransnational religious networks can enable access to extraneous resources, which, inturn, can enable religious groups to subvert the regulatory prescriptions of the state.Transnational religious influences therefore highlight the porosity of religiouseconomies, and the problem of regulating religious marketplaces. Qualitative data areused to demonstrate how Singapore-based churches create and strengthentransnational religious networks with their counterparts in China. These networksenable religious groups to operate with a degree of independence, and to overcomeregulatory restrictions on religious praxis.