The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion (eBook)

BRYAN S. TURNER is the Presidential Professor of Sociology and Director of the Mellon Committee for the Study of Religion, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York and Director of the Institute for Religion Politics and Society at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne). He was the Alona Evans Distinguished Visiting Professor at Wellesley College (2009-10). His most recent publications are Religion and Modern Society (Cambridge 2011) and The Religious and the Political (Cambridge 2013). With Oscar Salemink, he edited the Routledge Handbook of Religions in Asia (2014). He is the founding editor with John O'Neill of the Journal of Classical Sociology (Sage) and with Irfan Ahmad the Journal of Religious and Political Practice (Routledge). He received the Max Planck Award in 2015 for research on secularization and modernity: social and religious pluralism, and is a Guest Professor at the University of Potsdam.

Notes on Contributors Introduction: Mapping the Sociology of Religion 1
Bryan S. Turner

Part I The Foundations 31

1 The Sociology of Religion: The Foundations 33
Andrew McKinnon

2 Durkheim and After: Religion, Culture, and Politics 52
William Ramp

3 The Functional Theory of Religion 76
Victor Lidz

4 Recent Developments in the Anthropology of Religion 103
Simon Coleman

Part II From Secularization to Resacralization 123

5 Secularization 125
Steve Bruce

6 American Exceptionalism? 141
John Torpey

7 Resacralization 160
Grace Davie

Part III New Developments 179

8 Rational Choice and the Sociology of Religion 181
David Lehmann

9 The Religious Habitus: Embodiment, Religion, and Sociological Theory 201
Philip A. Mellor and Chris Shilling

10 Women, Religions, and Feminisms 221
Fang-Long Shih

Part IV Institutionalization: Old and New Forms 245

11 New Research on Megachurches: Non-denominationalism and Sectarianism 247
Stephen Ellingson

12 The Sociology of Spirituality: Reflections on a Problematic Endeavor 267
Matthew Wood

13 Arguing against Darwinism: Religion, Science, and Public Morality 286
Michael S. Evans and John H. Evans

Part V Sociology of Comparative Religions 309

14 The Sociology of Early Christianity: From History to Theory, and Back Again 311
Joseph M. Bryant

15 Judaism: Covenant, Pluralism, and Piety 340
Alan Mittleman

16 Sociology and Anthropology of Islam: A Critical Debate 364
Gabriele Marranci

17 Approaches to the Study of Buddhism 388
Catherine Newell

18 Sociology of Hinduism 407
Pratap Kumar Penumala

19 Religious Awakening in China under Communist Rule: A Political Economy Approach 431
Fenggang Yang

20 Native American Religious Traditions: A Sociological Approach 456
Dennis F. Kelley

Part VI Globalization 475

21 Globalization and the Sociology of Religion 477
Lionel Obadia

22 Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements in a Global Perspective 498
Afe Adogame

23 Fundamentalism 519
Richard T. Antoun

24 Religion, Media, and Globalization 544
Jeremy Stolow

25 Toward a Sociology of Religious Commodification 563
Pattana Kitiarsa

26 Women and Piety Movements 584
Rachel Rinaldo

27 Religion and Nationalism: A Critical Re-examination 606
Geneviève Zubrzycki

Part VII The Future of Religion 627

28 The Future of Religion 629
Andrew Wernick

29 Religion in a Post-secular Society 649
Bryan S. Turner

Index 668

"All of this being said I enjoyed reading this book for its in-depth examination of the complexities of the social forces that are shaping and are being shaped by religious groups around the world. I certainly see this being of theoretical value for researchers engaging the new religious realities of our world." (Sociology of Religion: A Quarterly Review, 6 August 2011)

"That said, the new companion is a timely and valuable work, validly updating the original companion and a good addition to the reference shelves of any academic or specialist library". (Reference Reviews, 1 December 2010)