ABSTRACT
One of the ironies of the modern sociology of religion is that, for all its dependence on ‘classic’ theories of industrial society, it has only rarely found explicit use for Marxist perspectives. Marxist sociologies of religion are virtually non-existent in the communities of English-speaking sociologists. 1 The reasons for this lacuna may be, as Marie Augusta Neal (1985, pp. 339-40) has argued, that topics for research are determined by the likelihood that they will attract funding. As Marxism is politically suspect in many quarters it is unlikely to figure prominently in applications for research grants. This may be true but it is only part of the story. A more important consideration is that the Marxist model of capitalist society may appear to ‘explain away’ religion as an epiphenomenon and would, therefore, be unlikely to be built into fundamental thinking about the functioning of religion in the modern world.
