THE CATEGORY OF THE RELIGIOUS - THE BLINDSPOT OF CONTEMPORARY MEDIA THEORY

This essay addresses the prospects of an approach to contemporary theo ry-building which would take account of the realms of meaning, ontolog y and cultural practice traditionally in the province of religion. Beg inning with an assessment of the germinal social theory of Durkheim, W eber and Marx, the investigation develops an interpretation of contemp orary social and cultural life which conceives of ''the religious'' as radically located within ''the secular''. Such a situation necessaril y implicates some received understandings, particularly in the area of secularization and the larger Enlightenment project. Implications for media theory and research are explored, along with a set of implicati ons for public and democratic discourse.