The illusion of cultural identity

Jean-François Bayart's scholarship, often translated as The Illusion of Cultural Identity, challenges essentialist and static conceptions of culture by showing how identities are produced through political, social, and historical processes.

Focusing particularly on African contexts, Bayart emphasizes agency, contestation, and the fluidity of identity construction under modernity.

His work has influenced scholars across disciplines seeking anti-essentialist frameworks for studying culture, politics, and identity.

Bayart's analysis provides tools for scholars of religion who aim to avoid reifying categories and instead examine the mechanisms producing those categories.

McCutcheon cites Bayart as an example of productive thinking outside religious studies.