This document establishes the methodological foundation for a series of theory-driven publications examining contemporary digital platforms as systems of authority, governance, and legitimacy. Rather than treating platforms as neutral tools or communication media, the research approaches them as infrastructural institutions that organize visibility, participation, and exclusion in ways historically associated with organized religion. The methodology adopts an interpretive and constructivist epistemological stance and employs conceptual synthesis across sociology of religion, science and technology studies, media studies, and critical political theory. A functional definition of religion is used, focusing on codification, enforcement, legitimacy, and exclusion rather than belief content. The document articulates the project’s epistemological position, methodological lineage, analytical procedures, scope, delimitations, and standards of rigor, and clarifies epistemological approaches that are deliberately not adopted. This methodological statement is designed to be cited independently and referenced throughout subsequent publications in the series. It positions the project as foundational rather than exhaustive, providing a coherent analytical framework intended to be engaged, tested, refined, or contested through future empirical research.
Lawrence Nault (Thu,) studied this question.