Tradition and Innovation. (1) Old and new churches in the religious market of South Africa (2) The Economy of Sacred Space in Durban, South Africa

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Ulrich Berner
• Subject Area: Religious Studies and Jewish Studies
• Term: from 2007 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 51647334

The project investigates the construction of sacred space in and beyond Durban, South Africa. Conceptually, our analysis relates the poetics of sacred space to its politics: based on the empirical study of the actual production of sacred places, we propose that the construction of sacred space rests on the establishment of a difference to other social, political or economic spatial orders - the confrontations, negotiations and co-operations that constitute its politics - which in turn rests on the poetics of sacred space, on the emic views that claim an essential difference to all other kinds of spatial order and thus establish the heterotopic character of sacred places. Within this frame we distinguish between two types of sacred space: absolute and relative sacred space. This conceptual differentiation does not only pertain to the poetics but also to the politics of sacred space, as distinct modes of production lead to structural differences in the religious field. In contrast to other approaches who overemphasise the conflictual nature of the politics of sacred space, this projects takes account of the many forms of sharing sacred places.Next to the already established research on Mission, African Independent and Pentecostal churches and the Muslim communities, the project now also includes research on migrant Christians in Mainline churches, on practitioners of Zulu religious traditions, and on Hindus. The special character of the religious landscape of Durban with its many migrant communities demands that our analysis cannot be limited to the sacred places located within Durban, but also takes account of the regional and transnational aspects in the construction of sacred space in Durban.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants