A unique historical and comparative analysis of the place of religion in the emergence of modern secular society.

Introduction: the state of the sociology of religion; Part I. Theoretical Frameworks: The Problem of Religion in Sociology: 1. Religion, religions and the body; 2. Émile Durkheim and the classification of religion; 3. Max Weber and comparative religion; 4. Talcott Parsons and the expressive revolution; 5. Mary Douglas and modern primitives; 6. Pierre Bourdieu and religious practice; Part II. Religion, State and Post-Secularity: 7. The secularization thesis; 8. Legal pluralism, religion and multiculturalism; 9. Managing religions: liberal and authoritarian states; 10. Religious speech: on ineffable communication; 11. Spiritualities: the media, feminism and consumerism; 12. Religion, globalisation and cosmopolitanism; 13. Civil religion, citizenship and the business cycle; 14. The globalisation of piety.

Bryan S. Turner is Presidential Professor of Sociology at the City University of New York Graduate School and Director of the Committee on Religion. He is a prominent figure in the field of the sociology of religion and editor of The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology (2006).