Description
Book SynopsisThis is a major new account of the nature of religion and its changing role in modern societies, by one of the most original French sociologists writing on religion today. In a stylish and accessible study, Hervieu--Leger addresses the problem of how to distinguish religion from other systems of meaning in modern Western society.
Trade Review'This book establishes Danièle Hervieu-Léger as one of the most important contemporary sociologists of religion. In the best tradition of French Sociology, she places the problem of modern religion within a broad interpretation of modern consciousness. Her book will be a classic in the field.'
Peter Berger, Director of the Institute for the Study of Economic Culture in Boston 'The author is a noted sociologist of religion in France, and this book is yet another and very valuable, contribution to the growing literature that rejects and moves beyond the older assumption that there is a necessary connection between modernity and secularization.' First Things
'This is an interesting book that deserves a wider audience if only for its detailed consideration of the relative merits of competing religions.' American Journal of Sociology
Table of ContentsForeword by Gracie Davie.
Introduction.
Part I Doubt about the subject matter: .
1. Sociology in opposition to religion? Preliminary considerations.
2. The fragmentation of religion in modern societies.
3. The elusive sacred.
Part II As our fathers believed:.
4. Religion as a way of believing.
5. Questions about tradition.
6. From religions to the religious.
Part III A break in the chain:.
7. Religion deprived of memory.
8. The chain reinvented.
Conclusion: Post-traditional society and the future of religious institutions.
Notes.
Select Bibliography.
Index.
