Editorial, special issue on religion, media and social change

This article introduces a special issue which examines the significance of the interplay between media and religion for social, cultural and, political change in contemporary societies. It sets out a framework for analysing these intersections, moving away from an approach that focus on the more or less instrumental use of one by the other, towards an approach that seek to grasp their dynamic interaction in contemporary cultures. The article reflects on the unexpected visibility of religion – and the problems encountered by scholars working in a secular, post-enlightenment paradigm – to tackle its contentious presence and/or resurgence in new forms in the public spheres of late modern societies of very different kinds across the globe. Based on international research at the Centre for Research for Socio-Cultural Change, the article offers a fresh perspective for the analysis of religion and media