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Journal ArticleDOI

Denominational Pluralism and Chur Ch Membership in Contemporary Sweden

01 Jan 1997-Journal of Empirical Theology (Brill)-Vol. 10, Iss: 2, pp 61-78
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated whether increases in denominational pluralism are followed by the theoretically expected increases in the number of free churches in Swedish municipalities. And they found that, other things equal, increases in free church pluralism led to a comparatively better development of free church membership.
Abstract: Recent theoretical developments within the sociology of religion assume a positive relationship between religious pluralism and religious participation. The relationship is explained by rational choice theory, which suggests that the more competition churches face, the more likely they are to adapt their services to the demands of their potential members and participants. Such market adaptation is expected to result in a diversified supply of religious services and hence to increase the likelihood that consumers can find a religious suply well adapted to their individual tastes. In order to overcome the weaknesses of previous cross-sectional analyses, this study investigates whether increases in denominational pluralism are followed by the theoretically expected increases in denominational membership. The results for the free church sector of 269 Swedish municipalitites show that, other things equal, increases in free church pluralism led to a comparatively better development of free church membership. The effect of the increases in religous pluralism was particularily evident where the level of free church pluralism was relatively low at the beginning of the period under study.
Citations
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MonographDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a case study of Islam and politics in post-communist Europe and the United States is presented, focusing on the theory of existential security and the consequences of Secularization.
Abstract: Part I. Understanding Secularization: 1. The secularization debate 2. Measuring secularization 3. Comparing secularization worldwide Part II. Case Studies of Religion and Politics: 4. The puzzle of secularization in the United States and Western Europe 5. A religious revival in post-communist Europe? 6. Religion and politics in the Muslim world Part III. The Consequences of Secularization: 7. Religion, the Protestant ethic, and moral values 8. Religious organizations and social capital 9. Religious parties and electoral behavior Part IV. Conclusions: 10. Secularization and its consequences 11. Re-examining the theory of existential security 12. Re-examining evidence for the security thesis.

2,608 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This paper found that the empirical evidence does not support the claim that religious pluralism is positively associated with religious participation in any general sense, and identified potentially productive directions for future research on religious plurality, church-state relations, and religious competition.
Abstract: For more than a decade, sociologists of religion have been debating the answer to a basic question: What is the relationship between religious pluralism and religious vitality? The old wisdom was that the relationship was negative, that pluralism undermines vitality. This view has been challenged by advocates of a supply-side model of religious vitality. They argue that the relationship is positive—that pluralism increases vitality—and this empirical claim has become foundational to the larger project of applying economic theory to religion. We review the relevant evidence and reach a straightforward conclusion: The empirical evidence does not support the claim that religious pluralism is positively associated with religious participation in any general sense. We discuss this conclusion's theoretical implications, and we identify potentially productive directions for future research on religious pluralism, church-state relations, and religious competition. It appears that North Americans are religious in ...

375 citations


Cites background from "Denominational Pluralism and Chur C..."

  • ...Ten of these articles find mainly a positive relationship (Finke & Stark 1988, 1989, Jannaccone 1991, Finke 1992, Stark et al 1995, Finke et al 1996, Hamberg & Pettersson 1994, 1997, Johnson 1995, Pettersson & Hamberg 1997)....

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Book
Jonathan Fox1
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: The question of religion's role in politics and society: modernization, secularization, and beyond? as mentioned in this paper The question of the role of religion in politics, and its role in society is discussed.
Abstract: 1. Introduction 2. The question of religion's role in politics and society: modernization, secularization, and beyond? 3. Quantifying religion 4. Global GIR from 1990 to 2002 5. Western democracies 6. The former Soviet bloc 7. Asia 8. The Middle East and North Africa 9. Sub-Saharan Africa 10. Latin America 11. Patterns and trends 12. Conclusions.

293 citations

Book Chapter
01 Jan 2004
TL;DR: The Sacred and Secular is essential reading for anyone interested in comparative religion, sociology, public opinion, political behavior, political development, social psychology, international relations, and cultural change as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Sacred and Secular is essential reading for anyone interested in comparative religion, sociology, public opinion, political behavior, political development, social psychology, international relations, and cultural change.

267 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Aug 2003
Abstract: For modern social theory, as well as for many ordinary people, religious identities have been a problem. Just what does it really mean to claim a Jewish or Christian identity? To think of oneself as Presbyterian or Baptist? What do we know of that new church down the road that simply calls itself “Fellowship Church”? And do any of those things have anything to do with how we might expect someone to perform their duties as a citizen or a worker? As modern people have loosened their ties to the families and places that (perhaps) formerly enveloped them in a cocoon of faith (or at least surrounded them with a predictable round of religious activity), they can choose how and whether to be religious, including choosing how central religion will be in their lives. Religious practices and affiliations change over a complicated lifetime, and the array of religious groups in a voluntary society shifts in equally complex ways. If religious identity ever was a given, it certainly is no longer. In his influential work on religion and personal autonomy, Philip Hammond posits that, given the mobility and complexity of the modern situation, individual religious identities are of various sorts – either ascribed (collectivity-based) or achieved (individual) and either primary (a core or “master” role) or secondary (Hammond 1988). In the premodern situation, religion was presumably collective and core. In the modern situation, taking up a collective, core religious identity is a matter of (exceptional) choice, not determinism.

190 citations