Believing in Belonging: Belief and Social Identity in the Modern WorldBelieving in Belonging draws on empirical research exploring mainstream religious belief and identity in Euro-American countries. Starting from a qualitative study based in northern England, and then broadening the data to include other parts of Europe and North America, Abby Day explores how people 'believe in belonging', choosing religious identifications to complement other social and emotional experiences of 'belongings'. The concept of 'performative belief' helps explain how otherwise non-religious people can bring into being a Christian identity related to social belongings. What is often dismissed as 'nominal' religious affiliation is far from an empty category, but one loaded with cultural 'stuff' and meaning. Day introduces an original typology of natal, ethnic and aspirational nominalism that challenges established disciplinary theory in both the European and North American schools of the sociology of religion that assert that most people are 'unchurched' or 'believe without belonging' while privately maintaining beliefs in God and other 'spiritual' phenomena. This study provides a unique analysis and synthesis of anthropological and sociological understandings of belief and proposes a holistic, organic, multidimensional analytical framework to allow rich cross cultural comparisons. Chapters focus in particular on: the genealogies of 'belief' in anthropology and sociology, methods for researching belief without asking religious questions, the acts of claiming cultural identity, youth, gender, the 'social' supernatural, fate and agency, morality and a development of anthropocentric and theocentric orientations that provides a richer understanding of belief than conventional religious/secular distinctions. |
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Believing in Belonging: Belief and Social Identity in the Modern World Abby Day No preview available - 2011 |
Believing in Belonging: Belief and Social Identity in the Modern World Abby Day No preview available - 2013 |
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ABBY adherent relationships affiliation amongst analysis answer anthropocentric anthropology anthropology of religion argued Asad asked atheist attend church Becca behaviour Berger boundaries census question cent Chris Christian identity church attendance Church of England claim comprehensive school concluded context deceased relatives decline described discourse discussed in Chapter Durkheim Durkheimian emotional ethnic European Social Survey example experience explained explored faith feeling friends gender human ibid idea identified important individual influence informants interview Jesus lives located loved meaning moral panics morality mother Muslim nominalist non-religious participation particularly patriarchy people’s beliefs performative belief practice racist referred reflect reinforce religious question response ritual scholars secular sense social society sociology of religion sometimes specific spiritual story suggest supernatural surveys talk Ten Commandments term theme theocentrics theories things tion told UK 2001 census understanding Urapmin Voas Weberian women young