Religion and Modern Society: Citizenship, Secularisation and the State

by Bryan S. Turner

Overview

Religion is now high on the public agenda, with recent events focusing the world's attention on Islam in particular. This book provides a unique historical and comparative analysis of the place of religion in the emergence of modern secular society. Bryan S. Turner considers the problems of multicultural, multi-faith societies and legal pluralism in terms of citizenship and the state, with special emphasis on the problems of defining religion and the sacred in the secularisation debate. He explores a range of issues central to current debates: the secularisation thesis itself, the communications revolution, the rise of youth spirituality, feminism, piety and religious revival. Religion and Modern Society contributes to political and ethical controversies through discussions of cosmopolitanism, religion and globalisation. It concludes with a pessimistic analysis of the erosion of the social in modern society and the inability of new religions to provide 'social repair'.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781139062534
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/31/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	522 KB

About the Author

Bryan S. Turner is Presidential Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York Graduate School and Director of the Committee on Religion. He is a prominent figure in the field of the sociology of religion and editor of The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology (2006).

Table of Contents

Introduction: the state of the sociology of religion; Part I. Theoretical Frameworks: The Problem of Religion in Sociology: 1. Religion, religions and the body; 2. Émile Durkheim and the classification of religion; 3. Max Weber and comparative religion; 4. Talcott Parsons and the expressive revolution; 5. Mary Douglas and modern primitives; 6. Pierre Bourdieu and religious practice; Part II. Religion, State and Post-Secularity: 7. The secularization thesis; 8. Legal pluralism, religion and multiculturalism; 9. Managing religions: liberal and authoritarian states; 10. Religious speech: on ineffable communication; 11. Spiritualities: the media, feminism and consumerism; 12. Religion, globalisation and cosmopolitanism; 13. Civil religion, citizenship and the business cycle; 14. The globalisation of piety.

Editorial Reviews

"A distinguished display of theoretical sophistication and empirical richness that restores religion to its rightful position at the centre of sociological debates about modernity, globalization, multiculturalism, consumerism, cosmopolitanism and citizenship. Bryan Turner’s highly readable book is full of original and provocative contributions towards a fresh understanding of religion and spirituality at the level of individuals, nations and global society."
James A. Beckford, University of Warwick

"Bryan Turner’s intellectual breadth and his deep appreciation of religion as a global force converge in an insightful analysis of the many ways in which religion, politics, and everyday culture interpenetrate today."
Michele Dillon, Professor of Sociology, University of New Hampshire

"In advancing a comparative sociology of global religion, Bryan Turner produces a penetrating, if controversial, counterpoint to the common assumption that we are in a robustly, even violently, sacralised age. He clinically interrogates conventional assumptions and makes the compelling argument that a globalised market economy has encouraged both a sliding scale of church-state separation and commercialised social religion: not the 'revenge of God', but secularisation of an often unappealing kind. All who think, or worry, about the impact of religious affiliation on society and politics need to read this book."
James Piscatori, Durham University

"It is a praiseworthy work that reminds sociologists to maintain a balance between specialized research subfields and the borders of interdisciplinary debate, between theoretical criticism and conceptual clarification, and between empirical richness and normative expectation. Thus, Religion and Modern Society is not only an endeavor of sociology of religion which moves beyond the secularization theme and the rational choice approach to religion; it is also an accomplishment that melds body studies, citizenship studies, social theory, and social research into a sociological intervention of both the public issues of religions and the humanity debate of post-secularity … This book is highly recommended to researchers interested in sociology of religion, social theory, and humanity studies of religion."
Society

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