ABSTRACT

In this book David Martin brings together a coherent summary of his many years of ground-breaking academic work on the sociology of religion. Covering key and contentious areas from the last half-century such as secularisation, religion and violence, and the global rise of Pentecostalism, it presents a critical recuperation of these themes, some of them first initiated by the author, and a review of their reception history. It then reviews that reception history in a way that discusses not only the subjects themselves, but also the academic practices that have surrounded them.

As such, this collection is vital reading for all academics with an interest in David Martin’s work, as well as those involved with the sociology of religion and the study of secularisation more generally.

part I|114 pages

The travels and travails of the concept of secularisation

chapter 1|17 pages

Overview of the problem

chapter 2|13 pages

Exploring my own reception

chapter 3|11 pages

Extensions of the secularisation debate

chapter 4|13 pages

Secularisation and other disciplines

part II|40 pages

Ancillary debates

chapter 7|19 pages

Religion and violence

chapter 8|19 pages

Reception and Pentecostalism

part III|29 pages

Examples

chapter 9|13 pages

Religion and the varied sources of violence

Disrupting a narrative