ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a contribution to the theorisation of public value social science by the application of the approach to a long established field, the sociology of religion, which can be intellectually renewed by adopting a public value perspective. It argues that a public value approach in the sociology of religion enables it to engage with some of the global challenges that threaten the future of humankind and for this subfield to move from the margins of sociology to the centre of public value social science. Most sociologists of religion therefore give witness both to the growth of secularisation and to a growing public role for religion. The chapter identifies the challenges this throws out to how sociologists of religion envision their role within the public sphere. It discusses various opportunities for public engagement by sociologists of religion, before describing some of the ways sociologists of religion are already entering the public square and impacting on public debate.
