Sacred Markets, Sacred Canopies: Essays on Religious Markets and Religious Pluralism

by William Sims Bainbridge, Steve Bruce, Roger Finke, Anthony J. Gill University of Washington; author of Rendering Unto Caesar, Eva M. Hamberg

Overview

Can individual decisions concerning whether or where to attend church, to contribute time or money to religious organizations, or to forgo certain activities be explained as a special case of economic theory? In Sacred Markets, Sacred Canopies, Ted G. Jelen brings together the leading scholars in the sociology of religion to debate market theories of religion. As the contributors examine whether or not religious choices can be understood as responding to the same laws of supply and demand as other forms of consumer behavior, they bring out many of the issues, controversies, and concerns surrounding this innovative theory. The result is a concise source for the arguments, evidence, and criticism of the market model of religious economies—a perfect starting point for students and scholars approaching this set of problems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742511873
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/01/2003
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.84(w) x 9.08(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Ted G. Jelen is professor of political science at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. He has published extensively in the areas of religion and politics.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 More Progress on the New Paradigm Chapter 2 Beyond Church and Sect: Dynamics and Stability in Religious Economics Chapter 3 A Prophet's Reward: Dynamics of Religious Exchange Chapter 4 Religious Markets: Supply, Demand, and Rational Choices Chapter 5 A Political Economy of Religion Chapter 6 Competing Notions of Religious Competition and Conflict in Theories of Religious Economies Chapter 7 The Poverty of Economism or the Social Limits on Maximising Chapter 8 Reflections on the "New Paradigm": Unfinished Business and an Agenda for Research