About
Have you heard of "The Protestant Ethic" or "American Civil Religion?" We have sociologists to thank for those concepts and for many of the ways we understand our world. According to Michael Emerson in Contemporary American Religions (McMillan, 1999): "The sociology of religion seeks to understand humanly constructed aspects of religion in their social context. In contrast to other viable approaches to studying religion, the sociology of religion searches for patterns and processes underlying the interdependence of religion and society. To do so, it relies on models, theories, observation, and analysis." Though philosophers have written about the relationship between religious belief and human society for centuries, it was not until sociology developed as a discipline that this field of study proliferated. Emile Durkheim and Max Weber were two pioneers of sociology in the twentieth century who also contributed significant theory and study in the sociology of religion. Associations of scholars continue the work through empirical methods, modeling, observation, and publication. Adjunct fields of anthropology of religion, comparative religion, congregational studies, public theology, religious demography, and religious ethics add both depth and breadth to the field.
Associations
- Association for the Sociology of ReligionThe Association encourages and communicates research that ranges widely across the multiple themes and approaches in the study of religion, and is a focal point for comparative, historical and theoretical contributions to the field. (from the website)
- Religious Research AssociationAcademic and religious professionals working at the intersection of research and practical religious activities. (from the web site)
- Society for the Scientific Study of ReligionSSSR fosters interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration among scholars from sociology, religious studies, psychology, political science, economics, international studies, gender studies, and many other fields. (from the web site)
- Society for the Anthropology of ReligionA section of the American Anthropological Association to facilitate teaching and research in the anthropological study of religion, including cultural anthropology, archaeology, physical anthropology, etc.
- North American Association for the Study of Religion
Web Sites
- Center for the Study of Religion and SocietyA research and instruction center associated with University of Notre Dame. An excellent reading list is posted under "Seminars and Courses."
- Insights into ReligionA portal to Lily funded studies on congregations, denominations, and demographics.
- Religion Dispatches: Critical Analysis for the Common GoodProduced at Emory, "a daily online magazine dedicated to the analysis and understanding of religious forces in the world today, highlighting a diversity of progressive voices and aimed at broadening and advancing the public conversation." (from the website)
- Religion and Ethics WeeklyProduced by PBS, a weekly look at the religious news offering "distinctive, cutting-edge news coverage and analysis of national and international events in the ever-changing religious world." (from the web site)
- Wabash Center Internet GuideTop recommended websites. Many topics to select: Religion & culture, religion & anthropology/sociology, religion study & teaching.
Recent Works
Reference Resources
General Works
Journals
- Field Work in ReligionFieldwork in Religion is an internationally peer reviewed, interdisciplinary journal. The journal publishes articles, review essays and book reviews relevant to the theoretical engagement with and practical undertaking of fieldwork in religion. (from the website)
- Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on ReligionAn open source journal from Baylor University.
- Journal of Contemporary ReligionJournal of Contemporary Religion is an international peer reviewed journal. Its purpose is to both document and evaluate the anthropological, sociological, psychological, and philosophical aspects of emerging manifestations of religiosity in any part of the world�whether within innovative movements or mainstream institutions. (from the website)
- Journal of Empirical TheologyThis journal publishes articles on comparative research in religion at the macro-level of society, the meso-level of institutions and the micro-level of identity and group formation. (paraphrased from the journal)
- Journal for the Scientific Study of ReligionThe journal of the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. According to the association's website, it is the most cited resource in the field. Many data-rich study reports.
- Method & Theory in the Study of ReligionThe journal of the North American Association for the Study of Religion.
- Religion and SocietyA quarterly journal published by the Christian Institute for the Study of Religion and Society in Bangalore, India. Provides inter-cultural perspective.
- Review of Religious ResearchThe journal seeks to provide a regular channel for the exchange of information on methods, findings and uses of religious research. It contains a variety of articles, book reviews and reports on research projects. (from the website)
- Social CompassEach quarterly issue is thematic, offering in-depth coverage of a key area of current social research on religion in society. Recent themes include: teaching and research in the social sciences of religion; religion, culture and identity; and state reconstruction of the religious field. (from the web site)
- Sociology of ReligionJournal of the Association for the Sociology of Religion, a long-tenured group with roots in the Roman Catholic Church.
Subject Headings
When searching by subject heading, use:
Religion and Sociology
Religion Study and Teaching
Or use the name of any faith group, adding "customs and practices, for example: "Hinduism customs and practices."
Using the faith group as a modifier for sociology results in works done from a particular faith perspective.
Buddhist Sociology
Christian Sociology
Hindu Sociology
Islamic Sociology
Jewish Sociology
To a country or city subject search, add "religious life and customs" to find works of sociological interest. For example: India religious life and customs.
To some general subject headings, adding "religious aspects" will yield books about the religious dimensions of a topic, such as "Marriage religious aspects."
ATLA Subjects
The ATLA Religion Database indexes many of the journals mentioned in this guide. These subject terms will be fruitful in the ATLA database.
Society and Church
Culture and Christianity
Secularization (Religion)
More Databases
Because this is an interdisciplinary field, many articles can be found in the following databases.
Academic Search Complete (Largest general database)
SocIndex with Full Text (Recommended sociology database)
Theses two Ebsco databases use similar subject terms for this discipline: religion, religion & sociology, religion & culture, religion study & teaching, church, any of the names of religious groups, or secularization.
Classic Texts
These books are by the seminal authors of the field.
Writings by Emory Faculty
Click on a link to be taken to the list of books at Emory by each faculty member. Also be sure to check article databases like the ATLA Religion database or the Religion and Philosophy Collection to find journal articles by each author.
Loading...
