As the new millennium approaches, the sacred and profane interface, conflict, and intermingle in novel ways. The Encyclopedia of Religion and Society provides a guide map for these developments. From succinct, brief notes to essay-length entries, it covers world religions, religious perspectives on political and social issues, and religious leaders and scholars -- present and past -- in the United States and the world. This comprehensive volume is an essential reference for studies in the anthropology, psychology, politics, and sociology of religion. Topics include: abortion, adolescence, African-American religious experience, anthropology of religion, Buddhism, commitment, conversion, definition of religion, ecology movement, Emile Durkheim, ethnicity, fundamentalism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, new religious movements, organization, parish, Talcott Parsons, racism, research methods, Roman Catholicism, sexism, Unification Church, Max Weber, and many others.

This collection of essays considers many aspects of Greek civil life and reveals how religion manifested itself in institutions, art and literature. Clarifies the more puzzling and elusive elements by tracing the attitudes that lay behind the manifold cults and customs.

"The reader is taken on a global exploration of the forms and diversities of religions and their social and cultural contexts... It is up to the minute in research and theory, and comfortably grounded in the traditions of the social explanation of things religious and spiritual." - Gary Bouma AM, Monash University "Tells how sociology of religion originated in the work of key nineteenth and twentieth century theorists and then brings the story into the present era of globalization, hybrid spirituality, and the Internet. Students of religion will find this an engaging and informative survey of the field." - Robert Wuthnow, Princeton University "It considers the ‘big questions’ - What is religion? How is religion changing in a modern world? What is the future of religion? – and addresses them through tangible case studies and observations of contemporary life. Its global perspective reflects the breadth, diversity and vibrancy of this field." - Sylvia Collins-Mayo, Kingston University This is a rich and dynamic introduction to the varieties of religious life and the central issues in the sociology of religion today. It leads the reader through the key ideas and main debates within the field as well as offering in-depth descriptions and analysis of topics such as secularization, fundamentalism, Pentecostal Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, atheism, ‘The spiritual marketplace’, digital religion and new religions like Wicca. Emphasising religion as a global phenomenon, examining especially the ways in which globalization has had an impact on everyday religious life, Singleton has created an illuminating text suitable for students in a wide range of courses looking at religion as a social and cultural phenomenon.

The T'ang (618-907) and Sung (960-1279) dynasties were times of great change in China. The economy flourished, the population doubled, printing led to a great increase in the availability of books, Buddhism became a fully sinicized religion penetrating deeply into ordinary life. This volume represents a collaborative effort of nine scholars of Chinese religion, history, and thought to begin addressing the question of how changes in the religions of the Chinese people were implicated in the momentous social and cultural changes of this period.

Contested changes: "family values" in local religious life -- |t Religious involvement and religious institutional change -- |t Religion, family, and work -- |t Styles of religious involvement -- |t "The problem with families today ..."--|t Practice of family ministry -- |t Religious familism and social change.

During the twentieth century, Britain turned from one of the most deeply religious nations of the world into one of the most secularised nations. This book provides a comprehensive account of religion in British society and culture between 1900 and 2000. It traces how Christian Puritanism and respectability framed the people amidst world wars, economic depressions, and social protest, and how until the 1950s religious revivals fostered mass enthusiasm. It then examines the sudden and dramatic changes seen in the 1960’s and the appearance of religious militancy in the 1980s and 1990s. With a focus on the themes of faith cultures, secularisation, religious militancy and the spiritual revolution of the New Age, this book uses people’s own experiences and the stories of the churches to display the diversity and richness of British religion. Suitable for undergraduate students studying modern British history, church history and sociology of religion.