Religion in the West — A Sociological Perspective

The sociology of religion has several enduring themes. These might be usefully stated in terms of answering a number of broad questions. What is religion; how might it be defined? To what extent is religion a product of society? Conversely, to what degree does religion impact upon the social order? Then there is the related question: Is religion inevitably and discernibly experiencing a marked decline? This book considers these key questions and addresses them within the context of contemporary Western societies and with reference to contrasting sociological perspectives. In doing so, it attempts to show that the sociology of religion endures as a vibrant sub-discipline of considerable relevance to the wider remit of sociology in analyzing and accounting for the richness of social life. These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.