Lived religion under neoliberal transition: work/leisure and migrant workers in Shenzhen, China

Abstract

This article explores the formation of lived religiosity in the context of neoliberal transformation in Shenzhen, China. The concept of lived religion has been increasingly employed by geographers of religion to understand how religion is ‘lived’ and practised in the realms of everyday life. However, this approach has been somewhat misapplied in geography, where scholars have sought to map out the forms or legitimate spheres in which lived religiosity persists. This study argues against the epistemology that intentionally looks beyond institutions, beliefs and religious elites. Our empirical research draws on Christianity and the work/leisure practices of migrant workers in Shenzhen. We examine the ways in which migrant workers practise Christianity as a form of communal life and leisure to mediate the alienation inflicted by the neoliberal labour regime in their everyday lives. Simultaneously, this study focuses on how religious institutions create spaces to accommodate migrant workers’ quest for everyday subjectivities. Additionally, new religious moralities arise as migrant workers apply Christian ethics to everyday work/leisure practices. This article not only shows how lived religious practices create inter-institutional spaces but also highlights the co-production of religious institutions and neoliberalism that establish ‘structures of feeling’ that condition the formation of lived religiosity.