Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Nature

Divided into four parts—Earth, Air, Fire, and Water—this book takes an elemental approach to the study of religion and ecology. It reflects recent theoretical and methodological developments in this field which seek to understand the ways that ideas and matter, minds and bodies exist together within an immanent frame of reference. The Bloomsbury Handbook of Religion and Nature focuses on how these matters materialize in the world around us, thereby addressing key topics in this area of study.

The editors provide an extensive introduction to the book, as well as useful introductions to each of its parts. The volume’s international contributors are drawn from the USA, South Africa, Netherlands, Norway, Indonesia, and South Korea, and offer a variety of perspectives, voices, cultural settings, and geographical locales.

This handbook shows that human concern and engagement with material existence is present in all sectors of the global community, regardless of religious tradition. It challenges the traditional methodological approach of comparative religion, and argues that globalization renders a comparative religious approach to the environment insufficient.

Laura Hobgood is Professor of Religion and the Paden Chair in Religion and Environmental Studies at Southwestern University, USA. Her books include A Dog’s History of the World (2014), The Friends We Keep (2010) and Holy Dogs and Asses (2008).

Whitney Bauman is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Florida International University, USA. He is author of Religion and Ecology (2014), and co-editor of Science and Religion (2014), and Grounding Religion (2010, 2017).