The book locates the contemporary study of religion in terms of general theorizing, covering such issues as choice, globalization, and what postmodern religion might look like. International perspectives are then introduced, and the postmodernity thesis is explored in connection with Eastern Europe, Japan and Latin America, and the "New Europe". Liberalism and fundamentalism are also addressed in other contexts, including Indonesia.

In the concluding chapters of the volume the emphasis shifts away from the study of religion and cultural change to how postmodern thought, such as the rejection of metaphysics of presence, might serve to open up new theological possibilities.