Description
Book SynopsisThe relationship between science and belief has been a prominent subject of public debate for many years, one that has relevance to everything from science communication, health and education to immigration and national values. Yet, sociological analysis of these subjects remains surprisingly scarce. This wide-ranging book critically reviews the ways in which religious and non-religious belief systems interact with scientific theories and practices. Contributors explore how, for some secularists, ‘science’ forms an important part of social identity. Others examine how many contemporary religious movements justify their beliefs by making a claim upon science. Moving beyond the traditional focus on the United States, the book shows how debates about science and belief are firmly embedded in political conflict, class, community and culture.
Trade Review"This timely and rich volume engages sociological considerations of science and belief and extends our understanding of how different groups across the world reconcile or reject diverse aspects of these two ways of knowing." Shiri Noy, Denison University
Table of ContentsForeword ~ Grace Davie Editor’s Introduction: Science, Belief and the Sociological Tradition ~ Stephen H. Jones, Tom Kaden and Rebecca Catto Part I: Methodological Challenges in the Study of Science and Belief The Sociological Study of Science and Religion in Context ~ Fern Elsdon-Baker and Will Mason-Wilkes Survey-based Research on Science and Religion: A Review and Critique ~ Jonathan P. Hill Language, Labels and Lived Identity in Debates about Science, Religion and Belief ~ Tom Kaden, Stephen H. Jones and Rebecca Catto Researching Clergy Attitudes towards Science: A Reflective Account of Key Methodological Challenges ~ Lydia Reid PART II: Belief in the Study of Science and Technology From ‘Science and Religion’ to ‘Transcendence in Science’, or: What We Can Learn from the (History of) Science and Technology Studies ~ Silke Gülker Rational Believers: Religion, Tradition and Spirituality among Indian Scientists ~ Renny Thomas Muslim Perceptions of Biological Evolution: A Critical Review of Quantitative and Qualitative Research ~ Jessica Carlisle, Salman Hameed and Fern Elsdon-Baker PART III: Science, Culture and Non-religion Feeling Rational: Affinity and Affinity Narratives in British Science–Non-religion Relations ~ Lois Lee Avoiding the ‘Anti-intellectual Abyss’: How Secular Humanists in Sweden try to Define the Boundaries between Science, Religion, Pseudoscience and Postmodernism ~ Susanne Kind Atheism and the Social Sciences ~ Stephen LeDrew PART IV: Religion, Conflict and Moderation Science and the Unearned Virtues of the ‘Really Religious People’: Exploring the Association between Perceived Religiosity and Science Rejection among Students in the Midwestern United States ~ David E. Long Discourses on Science and Islam: A View from Britain ~ Amy Unsworth Conclusion: Future Directions in the Sociological Study of Science and Belief ~ Stephen H. Jones, Rebecca Catto and Tom Kaden
