Introduction to the Special Issue: Speculative Philosophies and Religious Practices

This article maps the political and theoretical landscapes that have led to this volume, which represents the first attempt to outline an open, yet strategic and critical, dialogue between certain traditions in philosophy of religion and practical/public theology. It identifies the speculative return of the Real within recent continental philosophy and the interest in the lived materialities and practices of religion as the shared points of connection and overlap between these two disciplines, together with a commitment to make a viable contribution to the current UK debates surrounding the Big Society and the Age of Austerity.