ABSTRACT
It is in the spirit of instrumental and open-ended theorising that this chapter assesses the usefulness of an approach to the sociology of religion that is highly original and provocative but little known outside the networks of French-speaking sociologists and anthropologists of religion. The roots of Albert Piette's programme for a minimalist sociology of religion are visible in his books on festivals, photography in anthropology and secular religions. The chapter argues that the benefit lies in the possibility of integrating Piette's approach into wider theoretical perspectives; not in using it as a completely separate strategy. It also assesses the potential pay-off that might come from adopting a minimalist or miniaturist perspective on an aspect of religion in prison. The chapter argues that a minimalist description of actions carried out by prisoners in connection with religion – in this case, Islam – can be quite revealing and interesting in itself.
