Periodizing secularization : religious allegiance and attendance in Britain, 1880-1945 / Clive D. Field.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Field, Clive D., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Secularization--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Secularization.

Secularization--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Secularization (Theology)--History--19th century.

Secularization (Theology).

Secularization (Theology)--History--20th century.

Religion and state--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Religion and state.

Religion and state--Great Britain--History--20th century.

History.

Great Britain.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xv, 310 pages ; 24 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Religious allegiance and attendance in Britain, 1880-1945

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2019.

Summary:

Moving beyond the (now somewhat tired) debates about secularization as paradigm, theory, or master narrative, Periodizing Secularization focuses upon the empirical evidence for secularization, viewed in its descriptive sense as the waning social influence of religion, in Britain. Particular emphasis is attached to the two key performance indicators of religious allegiance and churchgoing, each subsuming several sub-indicators, between 1880 and 1945, including the first substantive account of secularization during the fin de siecle. A wide range of primary sources is deployed, many of them relatively or entirely unknown, and with due regard to their methodological and interpretative challenges. On the back of them, a cross-cutting statistical measure of 'active church adherence' is devised, which clearly shows how secularization has been a reality and a gradual, not revolutionary, process. The most likely causes of secularization were an incremental demise of a Sabbatarian culture (coupled with the associated emergence of new leisure opportunities and transport links) and of religious socialization (in the church, at home, and in the school). The analysis is also extended backwards, to include a summary of developments during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; and laterally, to incorporate a preliminary evaluation of a six-dimensional model of 'diffusive religion', demonstrating that these alternative performance indicators have hitherto failed to prove that secularization has not occurred. The book is designed as a prequel to the author's previous volumes on the chronology of British secularization - Britain's Last Religious Revival? (2015) and Secularization in the Long 1960s (2017). Together, they offer a holistic picture of religious transformation in Britain during the key secularizing century of 1880-1980. -- Provided by publisher, page 4 of dust-jacket.

Contents:

1 Introduction-Historiography and Sources p. 1

Historiography p. 1

2 Before 1880-The Long Prelude p. 24

Allegiance p. 24

Churchgoing p. 30

3 1880-1901-The fin de siècle: Part 1 Allegiance p. 44

Profession p. 46

Membership p. 49

4 1880-1901-The fin de siècle: Part 2 Churchgoing p. 73

Church Data p. 73

Local Censuses-England p. 74

Local Censuses-Wales p. 86

Local Censuses-Scotland p. 89

Typicality and Regularity p. 92

Demographics p. 96

Rites of Passage p. 101

5 1901-14-'The Faith Society'? p. 109

Allegiance p. 111

Churchgoing p. 122

6 1914-18-Keeping the Spiritual Home Fires Burning p. 141

Allegiance p. 144

Churchgoing p. 156

7 1918-39-The Depression Years p. 175

Allegiance p. 177

Churchgoing p. 192

8 1939-45-Puzzled People? p. 215

Allegiance p. 217

Churchgoing p. 229

9 Conclusion-Periodizing Secularization p. 245

Allegiance p. 245

Churchgoing p. 253

Diffusive Religion p. 258

Updating the Historiography p. 270.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-300) and index.

ISBN:

9780198848806

0198848803

OCLC:

1108331509

Publisher Number:

99983660153