Religion and Reality TV

Mara Einstein has worked as an executive at NBC, MTV Networks, and at major advertising agencies. She is Professor of Media Studies at Queens College, CUNY, USA and Director of the Masters program in Media and Social Justice.Katherine Madden teaches media studies at Jesuit High School in Sacramento, California, USA. Diane Winston holds the Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USA.

Religion and Reality TV: Faith in Late Capitalism provides a valuable constellation of case studies in the increasingly popular place of religion in the contemporary TV landscape. The collection's insightful analysis of how religion, spirituality, and identify have been monetized within the generic and format expectations of reality TV make the book useful for classes focusing on television studies and/or religion. This collection's particular attention to specific religious traditions and identities as well as more generalized spirituality provide multiple approaches to faith within reality TV. Charlotte E. Howell, Boston University, USA

• IntroductionPart I: Maintenance of the self Flaunting Christian patriarchy in the 21st century: Todd Chrisley’s straight guy with the queer eyeDiane Winston Making over body and soul: gender, selfhood, and parables of spiritual neoliberalism on Makeover TV Brenda R. Weber Black female sexual agency and racialized holy sex in black Christian reality TV shows Monique MoultriePart II: The performance of authenticity "This is just an incredible God thing": monetized domesticity in bottom-up media Katherine Madden "The renovation starts now!": rite-of-passage reality television Erica Hurwitz Andrus When the most popular format reaches the most atypical country: reality TV and religion in Israel Yoel Cohen and Amir Hetsroni All-American cancellation: spectacle and neoliberal performativity in All-American Muslim Melinda Q. Brennan Part III: Niche markets Sister Wives: the Protestantization of Mormon polygamyMyev Rees Paranormal reality television: audience engagement with mediums and spirit communicationAnnette Hill Conjuring spirits in a neoliberal era: ghost reality television, Third Wave spiritual warfare, and haunting pastsSean McCloud Amish reality and reality TV "Amishness": agonism in the cultural marketplace Stewart M. HooverPart IV: Commodification of the sacred Praying for reality: the invisible hand in Downey and Burnett's Answered Prayers Sharon Lauricella "The search for a young Imam begins now": Imam Muda and civilizational Islam in MalaysiaAndrea Stanton Preachers of Oxygen: franchising faith on reality TV Mara Einstein