Disruptive Religion: The Force of Faith in Social Movement Activism / Edition 1

by Christian Smith

Overview

Religion has long played a central role in many social and political movements. Solidarity in Poland, anti-apartheid in South Africa, Operation Rescue in the United States—each of these movements is driven by the energy and sustained by the commitment of many individuals and organizations whose ideologies are shaped and powered by religious faith. In many cases, religious resources and motives serve as crucial variables explaining the emergence of entire social movements. Despite the crucial role of religion in most societies, this religious activism remains largely uninvestigated. Disruptive Religion intends to fill this void by analyzing contemporary social movements which are driven by people and organizations of faith. Upon a firm base of empirical evidence, these essays also address many theoretical issues arising in the study of social movements and disruptive politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415914055
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	09/20/1996
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; About the Contributors; Introduction: Correcting a Curious Neglect, or Bringing Religion Back In; Part One: Preexistent Organizations and Leadership1. The Black Church in the Civil Rights Movement: The SCLS as the Decentralized, Radical Arm of the Black Church 2. Radical Islamic Insurgency in the Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979 Part Two: Religious Ritual and Insurgent Consciousness 3. Pastoral Mobilization and Contention: The Religious Foundation of the Solidarity Movement in Poland 4. Religious Rituals of Resistance and Class Consciousness in Bolivian Tin-Making CommunitiesPart Three: Mobilization and Repression 5. Popular Religion, Protest and Revolt: The Emergence of Political Insurgency in the Nicaraguan and Salvadoran Churches of the 1960s-1980s6. Church Leadership, State Repression, and the Spirit of Involvement in the South African Anti-Apartheid Movement, 1983-1990Part Four: Symbolic Worlds and Activist Identity7. For God and the Fatherland:Protestant Symbolic Worlds and the Rise of German National Socialism8. Many Are Called But Few Obey: Ideological Commitment and Activism in Operation Rescue Part Five: Religious Ideology and Disruptive Tactics 9 Popular Christianity and Political Extremism in the United States 10. A Comparison of the Political Behavior of Faith-Based and Secular Peace Groups Notes

Editorial Reviews

"This is an excellent book that deserves to be widely read ... [It] is highly readable and would be of interest to a much wider audience than academic scholars ... This book could serve very well as a supplementary text in sociology of religion courses." — Journal of Church and State

From the Publisher