Reflexivität als ritualisierte Praxis religionswissenschaftlicher Forschung

In the field of empirical research on religion, the positionality of researchers is an issue that is approached in different ways. The chapter therefore examines different concepts of reflexivity and their strengths and weaknesses. Against the backdrop of the controversies surrounding pragmatic and (meta-)theoretical concepts of reflexivity, the chapter analyses the practice of reflexivity in the work of two research projects in which the author has been involved. The first is a research project on Hindu temple practices in Switzerland and Austria in which the author worked largely alone. The second research project investigated the negotiation of belonging among young religious people in Vienna and was carried out with the collaboration of several researchers. These two examples will serve as a starting point in order to outline a proposal for reflexivity as part of a ritualised research practice.