The spatial re(con)figuration of religion

Abstract

This article is less concerned with theology than with the »public sphere«, although this is also relevant for »public theology«. The public sphere cannot only be understood as a »public space« only. Because the modern public sphere in particular is characterized by the use of different media, its spatiality also takes on features of mediatization that are associated with the media. This goes hand in hand with the thesis that the change in this mediation or »mediatization« of sensual, physical-sensual and objectified-materialized communicative action is associated with a spatial change. Contrary to the assumption of a global expansion of communication and a diminishing role of spatiality, we are observing a reconfiguration in which the delimiting network logic of the Internet clashes with territorial logic. This tension also characterizes religion and its public sphere, because with digitalization, the public space is no longer dominated in terms of content by large institutional actors, and the role of experts is also changing, who are now confronted with self-empowered subjects who can negotiate their increasingly subjectivist concerns in massively expanding public discourses.