Middle-Range Theories in Religion and Media Studies: Mediation, Mediatization and RSST

The article explores three seminal approaches to the study of religion and media: mediatization theory, mediation theory, and religious social shaping of technology (RSST). The overview gives a comparative analysis of these approaches considering the relation between the genesis and conceptual frame of each approach and the scope and boundaries of its application. Firstly, we focus on the difference in the conceptualization of the relation of media and religion. The theory of mediatization emphasizes the transformation of religion by media, the theory of mediation studies media as a part of religious practices, and RSST is concerned with shaping of media technologies by religious communities. Secondly, we outline that the discussed approaches differ in their interpretations of religion, which is crucial in defining the level of the analysis. While the conceptual frameworks of institutional tradition of mediatization theory and RSST address the institutionalized forms of religions, other approaches are suitable for the study of religious institutions as well as individual "lived religion". The general optic, the scope and the boundary of each approach is defined by the way religion is related to the media, and by the level of analysis.