Religion in Today's World: Global Issues, Sociological Perspectives / Edition 1

by Melissa Wilcox

Overview

Religion is a major force in contemporary society. It is also one of the least understood social and political influences on individuals and communities. In this innovative collection of original essays and classic readings, experts explore the significance of contemporary religiosity: as a source of meaning and motivation, how it unites and divides us, and how it is used politically and culturally. Readers will be introduced to the broad debates in ways that will equip them to analyze, discuss, and make their own judgments about religion and society. This book should be read by anyone interested in understanding religion as a central source of meaning and politics, and is ideally suited for undergraduate teaching on religion and social issues and from a global perspective.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415503877
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/06/2013
Series:	Sociology Re-Wired
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	600
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Melissa M. Wilcox is Associate Professor and Chair of Religion, and Director of Gender Studies at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. She has been teaching courses on the sociology of religion for over ten years, and is the author or co-editor of three other books focusing on religion, sexuality, and gender.

Table of Contents

Section 1: What is Religion? Essay: "Tilting at Windmills: Defining and Predicting Religion" 1. Asad, Talal. 1993. "The Construction of Religion as an Anthropological Category." From Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of Power in Christianity and Islam 2. McGuire, Meredith B. 2008. "Contested Meanings and Definitional Boundaries: Historicizing the Sociology of Religion." From Lived Religion: Faith and Practice in Everyday Life, 3. Berger, Peter L. 1967. Selections from The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion 3. Warner, R. Stephen. 1993. Selections from "Work in Progress Toward a New Paradigm for the Sociological Study of Religion in the United States." 4. Berger, Peter L. 1999. "The Desecularization of the World: A Global Overview." In Peter L. Berger, ed. The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics 5. Bruce, Steve. 2001. "The Curious Case of the Unnecessary Recantation: Berger and Secularization." In Linda Woodhead, ed. 6. Heelas, Paul and Linda Woodhead. 2005. Selections from "Bringing the Sacred to Life: Explaining Sacralization and Secularization." From The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality Section 2: Religion and Social Institutions Essay: "Religion, State, and Nation" 7. Ashiwa, Yoshiko. 2009. "Positioning Religion in Modernity: State and Buddhism in China." In Yoshiko Ashiwa and David L. Wank, eds. 8. Hann, Chris and Mathijs Pelkmans. 2009. "Realigning Religion and Power in Central Asia: Islam, Nation-State and (Post)Socialism." 9. Bellah, Robert N. 1967. "Civil Religion in America." 10. Long, Charles H. 1995. "Civil Rights-Civil Religion: Visible People and Invisible People." From Significations: Signs, Symbols, and Images in the Interpretation of Religion, 11. Juergensmeyer, Mark. 2008. "The Militant Christian Right in the United States." From Global Rebellion: Religious Challenges to the Secular State, from Christian Militias to al Qaeda 12. Skya, Walter A. 2009. "Conclusion." From Japan’s Holy War: The Ideology of Radical Shinto Ultranationalism Section 3: Religion and Social Power Essay: "Religion, Oppression, and Resistance" 13. Marx, Karl. [1844] 1986. Introduction, Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Law. 14. Du Bois, W.E.B. [1903] 1995. "Of Our Spiritual Strivings" and "Of the Faith of the Fathers." From The Souls of Black Folk, ed. Randal Kenan 15. Medina, Lara. 2006. "Nepantla Spirituality: Negotiating Multiple Religious Identities among U.S. Latinas." In Miguel A. de la Torre and Gastón Espinosa, eds., Rethinking Latino(a) Religion and Identity 16. Brown, Karen McCarthy. 1991. Selections from Mama Lola: A Vodou Priestess in Brooklyn 17. Mahmood, Saba. 2005. "Agency, Gender, and Embodiment." From Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject 18. Yip, Andrew K.T. 2005. "Queering Religious Texts: An Exploration of British Non-heterosexual Christians’ and Muslims’ Strategy of Constructing Sexuality-affirming Hermeneutics." 19. Dzmura, Noach. 2010. "Intersexed Bodies in Mishnah: A Translation and an Activist’s Reading of Mishnah Androgynos" and "An Ancient Strategy for Managing Gender Ambiguity." In Noach Dzmura, ed. Balancing on the Mechitza: Transgender in the Jewish Community Section 4: Religion and Social Movements Essay: "Changing Religions, Changing Worlds" 20. Jeung, Russell. 2007. "Faith-Based, Multi-Tenant Organizing: The Oak Park Story." In Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, ed. Religion and Social Justice for Immigrants 21. Campbell, David C. and Carin Robinson. 2007. "Religious Coalitions for and Against Gay Marriage: The Culture War Rages On." In Craig A. Rimmerman and Clyde Wilcox, eds. The Politics of Same-Sex Marriage 22. Smith, Lisa Ann and Lori G. Beaman. 2010. "Displacing Religion, Disarming Law: Situating Quaker Spirituality in the ‘Trident Three’ Case." 23. Shaffir, William. 1995. "When Prophecy is Not Validated: Explaining the Unexpected in a Messianic Campaign." The Jewish Journal of Sociology 37(2):119-136. 25. Urban, Hugh B. 2006. "The Age of Satan: Satanic Sex and the Black Mass, from Fantasy to Reality." From Magia Sexualis: Sex, Magic, and Liberation in Modern Western Esotericism Section 5: Religion, Local and Global Essay: "Local and Global: Blurring the Boundaries" 26. Levitt, Peggy. 2007. "A New Religious Architecture." From God Needs No Passport: Immigrants and the Changing American Religious Landscape 27. Akresh, Ilana Redstone. 2011. "Immigrants’ Religious Participation in the United States." 28. Bendixsen, Synnøve. "Islam as a New Urban Identity? Young Female Muslims Creating a Religious Youth Culture in Berlin." In Glenda Tibe Bonifacio and Vivienne S. M. Angeles, eds. Gender, Religion, and Migration: Pathways of Integration 29. Nason-Clark, Nancy. 2009. "Christianity and the Experience of Domestic Violence: What Does Faith Have to Do with It?" Social Work and Christianity 30. Jacobs, Janet. 2011. "The Cross-Generational Transmission of Trauma: Ritual and Emotion among Survivors of the Holocaust." 31. Wessinger, Catherine L. 2000. "How the Millennium Comes Violently." From How the Millennium Comes Violently: From Jonestown to Heaven’s Gate 32. King, Richard. 2007. "The Association of ‘Religion’ with Violence: Reflections on a Modern Trope." In John R. Hinnells and Richard King, eds. Religion and Violence in South Asia: Theory and Practice

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

This excellent collection provides an analytical framework for understanding religion and an overview of important, contemporary topics. Unique in its dual focus on religion as a ground of agency and a source of social control, it is perfect for my Religion in Public Life course and similar undergraduate classes.

—Penny Edgell, Sociology University of Minnesota

Wilcox’s approach to contemporary religion masterfully combines breadth of coverage with in-depth analysis. This volume underscores the lively debates that characterize scholarship on the subject. Wilcox is a thoughtful and learned guide through the landscape of contemporary religion.

—John P. Bartkowski, Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio

"This is an exciting textbook that will help students engage in a range of conversations related to religion in the contemporary world. I strongly recommend it."

—Wendy Cadge, Sociology, Brandeis University

Thanks to Wilcox’s meticulous organisation, this is an exquisitely-crafted volume. Presenting over 30 classical and contemporary key readings across five important themes, with each theme elegantly framed by Wilcox’s own insightful, lucid, and highly-accessible commentary, this volume provides a systematic and perfectly-pitched guide for the theoretical and empirical exploration of religion in today’s world. I strongly recommend it as essential reading for undergraduates.

–Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, Sociology, University of Nottingham

Wilcox’s reader is a welcome addition to a field often criticized for its North American parochialism. Cosmopolitan in focus, it offers a global introduction to the sociology of religion. Exploring the religious dimensions of political violence, sexuality, and social change, it is as relevant as tomorrow’s front page.

—John Schmalzbauer, Religious Studies, Missouri State University

With this volume, Melissa Wilcox succeeds in giving us a college reader that provides variety, nuance, and sophistication to our understanding of religion. Readings—both classic and contemporary—expose students to a broad range of styles and substantive themes. These smart selections are inherently flexible to suit the curriculum of all social scientists of religion. As a bonus, Wilcox's introductory essays are thoughtful and useful, accentuating key theorists and ideas to further help beginning students. Altogether a well-constructed text for helping us expand the sophistication of our students.

—Gerardo Marti, Sociology, Davidson College

Editorial Reviews

This excellent collection provides an analytical framework for understanding religion and an overview of important, contemporary topics. Unique in its dual focus on religion as a ground of agency and a source of social control, it is perfect for my Religion in Public Life course and similar undergraduate classes.

—Penny Edgell, Sociology University of Minnesota

Wilcox’s approach to contemporary religion masterfully combines breadth of coverage with in-depth analysis. This volume underscores the lively debates that characterize scholarship on the subject. Wilcox is a thoughtful and learned guide through the landscape of contemporary religion.

—John P. Bartkowski, Sociology, University of Texas at San Antonio

"This is an exciting textbook that will help students engage in a range of conversations related to religion in the contemporary world. I strongly recommend it."

—Wendy Cadge, Sociology, Brandeis University

Thanks to Wilcox’s meticulous organisation, this is an exquisitely-crafted volume. Presenting over 30 classical and contemporary key readings across five important themes, with each theme elegantly framed by Wilcox’s own insightful, lucid, and highly-accessible commentary, this volume provides a systematic and perfectly-pitched guide for the theoretical and empirical exploration of religion in today’s world. I strongly recommend it as essential reading for undergraduates.

–Andrew Kam-Tuck Yip, Sociology, University of Nottingham

Wilcox’s reader is a welcome addition to a field often criticized for its North American parochialism. Cosmopolitan in focus, it offers a global introduction to the sociology of religion. Exploring the religious dimensions of political violence, sexuality, and social change, it is as relevant as tomorrow’s front page.

—John Schmalzbauer, Religious Studies, Missouri State University

With this volume, Melissa Wilcox succeeds in giving us a college reader that provides variety, nuance, and sophistication to our understanding of religion. Readings—both classic and contemporary—expose students to a broad range of styles and substantive themes. These smart selections are inherently flexible to suit the curriculum of all social scientists of religion. As a bonus, Wilcox's introductory essays are thoughtful and useful, accentuating key theorists and ideas to further help beginning students. Altogether a well-constructed text for helping us expand the sophistication of our students.

—Gerardo Marti, Sociology, Davidson College

"Wilcox asought a format that "allows instructors to involve their undergraduate students in the broad debates and issues that will equip them to analyze, discuss, and make their own judgments about religion/society long after they move on from the course." The framing essays are written in a clear, engaging style, with good organization (including bold-faced major terms) that will appeal to undergraduates and make their learning more efficient. Wilcox's volume, with both classic and contemporary primary sources and integrating framing essays, serves the series' objective well."– Professor Meg Karraker, University of St Thomas

From the Publisher