Individualized religion : practitioners and their communities / Claire Wanless.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wanless, Claire, author.

Series:

Bloomsbury advances in religious studies.

Bloomsbury Advances in Religious Studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Individualism--Religious aspects.

Individualism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (200 pages) : illustrations.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

London, England : Bloomsbury Academic, [2021]

Summary:

"Drawing on ethnographic research, this book explores individualized religion in and around Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire. Claire Wanless demonstrates that counter to the claims of secularization theorists, the combination of informal structures and practices can provide a viable basis for socially significant religious activity that can sustain itself. The subjects of this research claim a variety of religious identities and practices, and are suspicious of religious institutions, hierarchies, rules and dogmas. Yet they participate actively in an overlapping and cross-linking informal network of practice communities and other associations. Their engagements propagate and sustain a core ideology that prioritizes subjectivity, locates authority at the level of the individual, and also predicates itself on ideals of sharing, mutuality and community. Providing a new theory of religious association, this book is a counterpoint to the secularization thesis in the UK and points the way to new research on individual religion."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. Theorizing religion in the 21st century

3. The Upper Calder Valley

4. A Diversity of Practice

5. The Character of Individualized Religion

6. Individuals in Community

7. Conclusion.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781350182516

1350182516

9781350182523

1350182524

OCLC:

1240366964