Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Porous Religious Economies And The Problem Of Regulating Religious Marketplaces, Orlando Woods

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

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 …