A Future for Religion? New Paradigms for Social Analysis

by William H. Swatos, Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780803946767
• ISBN10: 0803946767
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-10-22
• Publisher: Sage Publications

Summary

"The editor has shown clearly the new dimensions in sociology of religion which the classical schools neglected as personal and private concerns and which do not fit into the positivistic approach to the study of religion. This book introduces new pardigms in the study of sociology of religion to be developed in the context of new religious movements.... This book is a valuable addition to the fields of sociology of religion and new social movements." --Economic and Political Weekly From the evangelical and charismatic Christianity to the growth of Islamic fundamentalism, society today is witnessing an explosion of religious activity and revival. Yet, since the 1960s, sociologists have been proclaiming that religion has been in its death throes. Can such dynamic religious forces be at work if religion is dying? What is happening? And what do we expect to happen to religion in the coming decades? In A Future for Religion?, a leading team of scholars responds to these questions and offers a glimpse of where religion is heading. In their analyses, the authors explore several areas traditionally excluded from sociology of religion texts: religious experience, emotional renewal, religion and the body, comparative analyses, the links between religion and politics, social movements, and immigration. Each chapter summarizes a particular direction, provides data from current research, and offers an agenda for future research. Written in an accessible, inviting style, A Future for Religion? is ideally suited to courses in the sociology of religion. "This is a useful and sometimes very interesting handbook....It combines theory and practical sense in good measure." --Seminar

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	ix
William H. Swatos, Jr.
New Social Movement Theory and the Sociology of Religion: Synergies and Syntheses	1	(18)
John A. Hannigan
Global Fundamentalism	19	(18)
Frank J. Lechner
Religion, Class Conflict, and Social Justice	37	(18)
Eugen Schoenfeld
Religion in Capitalist East Asia	55	(18)
Joseph B. Tamney
Liberation Theology in Latin America and Beyond	73	(19)
W. E. Hewitt
Religion and the New Immigrants	92	(17)
Peter Kivisto
For a Sociology of Religious Experience	109	(20)
James V. Spickard
Present-Day Emotional Renewals: The End of Secularization or the End of Religion?	129	(20)
Daniele Hervieu-Leger
Religion and the Body: Sociological Themes and Prospects	149	(16)
John H. Simpson
Inequality and Difference: Feminist Research in the Sociology of Religion	165	(20)
Mary Jo Neitz
Back to the Future: Applying Sociology of Religion	185	(18)
William H. Swatos, Jr.
Index	203	(4)
About the Authors	207