"About time! Two key experts in the field remind us of the significance and power of religion as bio-political and bio-economic."
- Beverley Skeggs, Goldsmiths, University of London
"A welcome addition to a continuing body of work by two distinguished theorists of religion."
- Grace Davie, University of Exeter
"This book is ambitious, refreshing and rewarding. It offers the best available analysis of the complex interlacing of the sacred, religion, secularization and embodied experience."
- James A. Beckford, University of Warwick
This book is key reading for the sociology of religion, the body and modern culture.
Introduction
Modalities of the Sacred
Other-Worldly and This-Worldly Intoxication
The Bio-Medicalization of Pain
The Aestheticization of Charisma
The Materialization of Eroticism
Instauring the Religious Habitus
Conclusion
Philip Mellor is Professor of Religion and Social Theory at University of Leeds.