In seeking to make sense of modernity in the classical tradition of sociology as a field, the body of Robert…
Where religion comes from and leads us
sociology
What should we now do differently?
No one reading this seven hundred page book can fail to be impressed with the sweep of its argument or…
Weber for the 21st century
For almost one hundred years, all sociologists of religion have taken Max Weber’s great work on comparative religions as a primary point…
Where did religion come from?
When an interviewer for the Atlantic Monthly blog asked me “What prompted you to write this book?” I apparently replied,…
RFP: New Directions in the Study of Prayer
The Social Science Research Council recently announced the launch of a new project and grants program entitled "New Directions in…
American Grace and public sociology
Robert Putnam and David E. Campbell’s American Grace follows up on these Tocquevillean themes, exploring the contemporary American religious landscape to understand,…
Nothing is ever lost: An interview with Robert Bellah
Both an influential scholar and a public intellectual, Robert Bellah is one of the foremost sociologists of his generation. His…
American religion in the era of Fosdick’s revenge
Is bland beautiful? Almost never, most of us would say. But when it comes to religion in a diverse society,…
The Help, ethnography, and ickiness
This is a post about the politics of representation, postcolonial theory, and the Hollywood movie, The Help. And it begins…
What we talk about when we talk about the postsecular
The term "postsecular" is quickly becoming a keyword for scholars of religion and public life. So what is it all…