RB010 Religion, Power, and Ideology

An understanding of power, in its many forms, is an important part of the study of religion and culture. In this podcast on 'Religion, Power and Ideology' I give an outline of Michel Foucault's understanding of the concept of power. In particular, 'power is everywhere because it comes from everywhere'. One instance of power and religion is the idea of an ideology – religion as a means by which power relations (and inequalities based on such power relations) are naturalised and legitimated. Religion is not the only form of ideology, but I raise the important question to ask in any study of religion: 'where is the money?'.