Religion in Secular Society: Fifty Years On

by Bryan Wilson, Steve Bruce (Editor)

Overview

Fifty years after its publication, Bryan Wilson's Religion in Secular Society (1966) remains a seminal work. It is one of the clearest articulations of the secularization thesis: the claim that modernizations brings with it fundamental changes in the nature and status of religion. For Wilson, secularization refers to the fact that religion has lost influence at the societal, the institutional, and the individual level. Individual secularization is about the loss of authority of the Churches to define what people should believe, practise and accept as moral principles guiding their lives. In other words, individual piety may still persist, however, if it develops independently of religious authorities, then it is an indication of individual secularization. Wilson stresses that the consequences of the process of societalization in modern societies and on this basis he formulated his thesis that secularization is linked to the decline of community and is a concomitant of societalization. Revised and updated, Steve Bruce builds on Wilson's work by noting the changes in religious culture of the UK and US, in an appendix on major changes since the 1960s. Bruce also provides a critical response to the core ideas of Religion in Secular Society.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198788379
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/06/2016
Edition description:	Anniversary
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	7.80(w) x 5.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Bryan R. Wilson, (1926 - 2004), was Reader Emeritus in Sociology at the University of Oxford and President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (1971). He became a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 1963.

Steve Bruce is Professor and Chair of Sociology at the University of Aberdeen. His previous publications include Secularization: In Defence of an Unfashionable Theory (2013), Paisley: Religion and Politics in Northern Ireland (2007), Sociology: A Very Short Introduction (2000), and Choice and Religion: A Critique of Rational Choice Theory (OUP, 1999).

Table of Contents

Part I The Pattern of Secularization1. Statistical Evidence of Secularization in England2. Denominationalism and Secularization3. The Social Context of Secularization4. Religion and Other Social Institutions5. Secularization and the Clerical ProfessionPart II Secularization in America6. Religion in America: A Contrasting Pattern7. Religion and Status: America and EnglandPart III The Religious Response8. The Clergy and Ecumenicalism9. The Ecumenical Implications of Christian Expansion10. Ecumenicalism and the DenominationsPart IV The Sectarian and Denominational Alternative11. The Origins and Functions of Sects12. Emerging Denominations and Persisting SectsConclusionBibliographyAppendix

Editorial Reviews

"Bruce's editing and updating of Wilson's work proves helpful in increasing readability and better conveying the utility of Wilson's text for a younger audience. This new edition and its relevance for the US's current religious landscape couldn't be more timely. In Appendix 2 Bruce provides updates to what has changed since 1966, when Wilson's text was original published, in terms of politics, policy, modes of identification, economic factors, and societal changes. Overall, I have to commend Bruce for clarifying Wilson's position and providing much needed updates to this text. This new edition is one that should be kept in conversation as future religious landscape data becomes available."—Sean Dixon, Reading Religion

"I welcome this re-edition of Bryan Wilson's work as an important marker in the sociology of religion"—Grace Davie, Sociology of Religion

"Bruce's efforts to bring Wilson's sociological descriptions to a new audience are to be commended and fully considered." — Expository Times

From the Publisher