From Minority to Minor: Genealogy, Postidentity, and Becoming in Religion

This paper develops a genealogy of the “minor” in relation to religion, tracing a shift from “minority” as a juridico-political category toward “minor” as a postidentity, critical mode of theorizing religion. Contemporary approaches to religious diversity and inequality remain largely framed by recognition, rights, and inclusion, yet often reproduce the epistemic hierarchies through which religion is defined and governed.
Drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of the minor, alongside queer-of-color critique (Muñoz) and postsecular feminist theory (Mahmood), I conceptualize “minor religion” not as identity but as practice: a process of becoming that destabilizes majoritarian norms in theology and religious studies. Examples from space - such as the “Overview Effect” and adapted ritual practices - highlight religion as relational, situated, and open to alternative futurities beyond identity-centered paradigms.