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Further Reading

This section includes the annotated further readings suggested by authors at the end of each chapter:

Click on the tabs below to view the content for each chapter.

Introduction

Bruce, Steve (1995). Religion in Modern Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Analyzes the history of post-war Britain through the prism of secularization.

Clarke, Peter (2004). Hope and Glory. Britain 1900–2000. Second edition. London: Penguin Books.
An informative one-volume general history of twentieth-century Britain.

Davie, Grace (1994). Religion in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Takes a different approach from Steve Bruce’s Religion in Modern Britain and is usefully read alongside it.

Hastings, Adrian (1991). A History of English Christianity 1920–1990. Third edition. London: SCM.
A well-informed account of the recent history of the churches in England.

Kynaston, David (2007). Austerity Britain 1945–51. London, Berlin and New York: Bloomsbury and David Kynaston (2009). Family Britain 1951–57. London, Berlin and New York: Bloomsbury.
The first two books of an authoritative history of post-war Britain (religion is downplayed).

McLeod, Hugh (2007). The Religious Crisis of the 1960s. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
A balanced analysis of religious change in the 1960s.

Chapter 1

Dinham, Adam, Robert Furbey and Vivien Lowndes (eds) (2009). Faith in the Public Realm: Controversies, Policies and Practices. Bristol: Policy Press.
A collection of essays exploring ‘faith’ within the public realm in relation to issues of public policy and practice.

Nye, Malory (2001). Multiculturalism and Minority Religions in Britain: Krishna Consciousness, Religious Freedom, and the Politics of Location. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Explores concepts of religions, minorities and power in political and legal discourse through the Bhaktivedanta Manor controversy.

Parekh, Bhikhu (2005). Rethinking Multiculturalism: Cultural Diversity and Political Theory. Second edition. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Develops a theory of multiculturalism applied to a number of key policy issues for a plural society. 

Weller, Paul (2008). Religious Diversity in the UK: Contours and Issues. London: Continuum.
Presents a ‘critical incident’ and ‘case study’ approach to religious diversity in the UK and the debates associated with it.

Weller, Paul (2009). A Mirror for our Times: ‘The Rushdie Affair’ and the Future of Multiculturalism. London: Continuum.
Takes the Satanic Verses controversy as a mirror in which a range of social, political, legal and religious issues for a plural society are highlighted.

Chapter 2

Brown, Callum G. (2008). Religion and Society in Twentieth-Century Britain. Harlow: Pearson.
This book provides an overview of religious change in the period, and can be read alongside his co-authored chapter in this volume.

Collins-Mayo, Sylvia, Bob Mayo and Sally Nash (2010). The Faith of Generation Y. London: Church House.
A study of the attitudes of young people to Christianity and hence of likely futures.

Davie, Grace (1996). Religion in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging. Oxford: Blackwell.
A sociological study, exploring particularly the persistence of Christian influence despite the decline of the institutional churches.

Garnett, Jane, Matthew Grimley, Alana Harris, William Whyte and Sarah Williams (eds) (2007). Redefining Christian Britain: Post 1945 Perspectives. London: SCM.
This multi-authored volume offers an important alternative, less ‘pessimistic’, perspective than that of Brown.

McLeod, Hugh (2007). The Religious Crisis of the 1960s. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
An authoritative and balanced overview of a critical period.

Chapter 3 - Judaism

Graham, David J., Marlena Schmool and Stanley Waterman (2007). Jews in Britain: A Snapshot from the 2001 Census, Report No.1. London: Institute for Jewish Policy Research.
A summary of the major findings to come out of Britain’s 2001 Census, the first to include a question on religion, is presented in this book-length study.

Kahn-Harris, Keith and Ben Gidley (2010). Turbulent Times: The British Jewish Community Today. London: Continuum.
This book examines the key contemporary developments which have taken place in Britain’s Jewish community in the age of multiculturalism.

Scholefield, Lynne (2004). ‘Bagels, Schnitzel and McDonald’s – “Fuzzy Frontiers” of Jewish Identity in an English Jewish Secondary School’, British Journal of Religious Education, 26/3: 237–248.
This paper presents an interesting assessment of ‘the indeterminate boundaries of Jewish identity’ from a qualitative perspective.

Waterman, Stanley and Barry A. Kosmin (1988). ‘Residential Patterns and Processes: A Study of Jews in three London Boroughs’, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 13/1: 75–91.
This important paper examines the relatively high-density spatial clustering of Jews in Britain and concludes that the pattern of settlement is one of congregation rather than segregation.

The Institute for Jewish Policy Research (JPR) offers the most comprehensive collection of contemporary studies of Britain’s Jewish community, most of which can be freely downloaded from JPR’s publications page (http://www.jpr.org.uk/publications/index.php).

Chapter 3 - Sikhism

Bance, Peter (2007). The Sikhs in Britain: 150 Years of Photographs. Stroud: The History Press.
A history of the community in Britain as seen through old photographs.

Hall, Kathleen D. (2002). Lives in Translation: Sikh Youth as British Citizens.Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
A detailed study of Sikh pupils in secondary education in north England.

Jhutti-Johal, Jagbir (2011). Sikhism Today. London: Continuum International Publishing.
Examines some of the ethical issues facing Sikhs in Britain and other Western societies.

Nesbitt, Eleanor (2005). Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
A short and concise introduction to Sikhism, including Sikh practices in Britain.

Tatla, Darshan Singh (1999). The Sikh Diaspora: The Search for Statehood. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.
This volume provides a detailed coverage of the post-1984 events in the Sikh diaspora, especially Britain.

Chapter 3 - Islam

Gilliat-Ray, Sophie (2010). Muslims in Britain: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
This comprehensive textbook about Muslims in Britain covers history, migration patterns, institutions and contemporary issues, and offers a comprehensive introduction (and bibliography).

Halliday, Fred (2010). Britain’s First Muslims: Portrait of an Arab Community. London: I. B. Tauris.
Based on empirical research conducted from the 1970s onwards, this book tells the story of early Yemeni Muslim seafaring communities in Cardiff, South Shields and Liverpool, and explores the lives of industrial workers in Sheffield, Birmingham and Manchester.

Hopkins, Peter and Richard Gale (eds) (2009). Muslims in Britain: Race, Place and Identities. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
The essays by geographers of religion in this collection explore how Muslims negotiate their daily experiences within homes and localities, and how religious identities are shaped by gender, class and ethnicity as well as transnational connections and mobilities.

Hussain, Serena (2008). Muslims on the Map: A National Survey of Social Trends in Britain. London: Tauris Academic Studies.
Based on analysis of 2001 Census data in relation to the socio-economic situation of British Muslims, this was the first study to examine in detail the demography of Muslim communities, and their housing, educational and employment circumstances.

Mondal, Anshuman (2008). Young British Muslim Voices. Oxford: Greenwood World Publishing.
Examines the views of a number of young male and female British Muslims from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds and from different social classes, and gives a valuable insight into the concerns, opinions and fears of those interviewed.

Chapter 3 - Hinduism

Ballard, Roger (ed.) (1994). Desh Pardesh: The South Asian Experience in Britain. London: Hurst.
Includes a useful introduction on patterns of settlement and a range of articles by anthropologists and Religious Studies scholars, several focused on different Hindu groups.

Nye, Malory (2001). Multiculturalism and Minority Religions in Britain. Richmond: Curzon.
A detailed analysis of ISKCON’s campaign to preserve public worship at Bhaktivedanta Manor and its significance.

Raj, Dhooleka (2003). Where are you from? Middle-class Migrants in the Modern World. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
An ethnographic account of the lives, ideas and attitudes of Hindu Punjabis in north London.

Runnymede Trust (2006). Connecting British Hindus: An Enquiry into the Identity and Public Engagement of Hindus in Britain. London: Runnymede Trust/Hindu Forum of Britain.
Based on focus group research and an online survey as well as 2001 Census data, this report provides some interesting primary data on Hindus in twenty-first-century Britain.

Vertovec, Steven (2000). The Hindu Diaspora: Comparative Patterns. London: Routledge.
Placing British Hindus in a broader diasporic perspective, this book nevertheless has plenty of material on Hindus in Britain.

Chapter 3 - Buddhism

Bell, Sandra (2000). ‘A Survey of Engaged Buddhism in Britain’ in Christopher Queen (ed.), Engaged Buddhism in the West. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 397–422.
Sets therapeutic, social and environmental projects within the context of Buddhism’s relation to British society.

Bluck, Robert (2008). British Buddhism: Teachings, Practice and Development. London: Routledge.
A comprehensive survey of the seven largest traditions, including new movements, with an historical overview and statistical information. Extensive bibliography.

Buddhist Directory (2007; 10th edn). London: Buddhist Society.
Details 650 national and local centres and groups, with sections on related organizations and resources.

Prebish, Charles and Damien Keown (2010; 2nd edn). Introducing Buddhism. London: Routledge.
Clear explanation of key teachings, historical development and contemporary social and ethical issues. Substantial glossary of Buddhist terms and teachers.

Waterhouse, Helen (2001). ‘Representing Western Buddhism: A United Kingdom Focus’, in Gwilym Beckerlegge (ed.), From Sacred Text to Internet. Aldershot: Ashgate, 117–160.
Sets three British case studies within the context of a developing Western Buddhism.

Chapter 4

Bloom, William (ed.) (2000). The Holistic Revolution. London: Allen Lane/Penguin.
A collection of essential readings about alternative spiritualities, emphasizing holistic interests. It includes work by leading exponents of so-called New Age, neoshamanic, self-therapeutic and ‘new science’ movements, and argues that these amount to an important revolution in thought and life.

Harvey, Graham (2009). ‘Paganism’, in Linda Woodhead, Hiroko Kawanami and Chris Partridge (eds), Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations. London and New York: Routledge, 357–378.
A survey of key features, practices and scholarly debates about Paganism. In addition to vignettes of specific practices, it discusses the meanings of ‘nature’ and the relationship between Pagans and modernity, or the wider contemporary culture.

Hutton, Ronald (1991). The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles. London: Blackwell.
An exhaustive survey of what historical evidence can reveal about contemporary Paganism, especially witchcraft, in relation to ancient paganism, medieval witches, early modern esotericists and Romantics. It places Paganism, and, by implication, related alternative spiritualities in their proper historical context.

Lewis, James R. and Murphy Pizza (eds) (2009). A Handbook of Contemporary Paganism. Leiden: Brill.
A collection of essays that showcase recent and emerging debates among Pagans and scholars interested in Paganism. It includes sections on history, sociology, magic and ritual, theology, traditions, family, youth, popular culture and racial-ethnic issues.

Sutcliffe, Steven and Marion Bowman (eds) (2000). Beyond New Age: Exploring Alternative Spirituality. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
An exploration of many of the forms taken by alternative spiritualities. Divided into sections on people, places and practices, it offers important understandings of the contemporary role of these movements in relation to their precursors and context.

Chapter 5

Ansari, Humayun (2004). The Infidel Within: Muslims in Britain Since 1800. London and New York: Hurst and Columbia University Press.
This book provides an in-depth account of Muslim presence and identity formation in Britain.

Clements, Keith (1988). Lovers of Discord. London: SPCK.
A lively discussion of theological controversies through the twentieth century including the major conflicts of the 1960s and 1970s.

Hellyer, H. A. (2010). Muslims of Europe: The ‘Other’ Europeans. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Explores arising religious discourses for Muslims in Europe with a focus on the United Kingdom as a case study.

Hutton, Ronald (1999). The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft. Oxford: Oxford Paperbacks.
An historical account of the ideas, practices and development of modern Paganism in its many forms.

Nicholls, David (1989). Deity and Domination. Images of God and the State in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries. London: Routledge.
An exploration of the relationship between changing images of (the Christian) God and shifts in political power in modern Britain.

Warner, Robert (2007). Re-inventing English Evangelicalism, 1966–2001. Carlisle: Paternoster.
A comprehensive and incisive account of the changes in English evangelicalism which discusses all aspects of the movement from both a theological and sociological perspective.

Chapter 6

Anderson, Allan (2004). An Introduction to Pentecostalism: Global Charismatic Christianity.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Shows the extent of Charismatic forms of Pentecostalism.

Cupitt, Don (2001). Taking Leave of God. London: SCM Press.
An account of developing a religious outlook that leaves traditional perspectives behind.

Davies, Douglas J. (2011). Emotion, Identity, and Religion: Hope, Reciprocity and Otherness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Considers how emotions that help forge identity are selected and managed in religious traditions.

Rappaport, Roy (1997). Ritual and Religion in the Making of Humanity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Probably the best social science book on ritual.

Ryrie, Alec (2003). The Gospel and Henry VIII, Evangelicals in the Early English Reformation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Describes some of the ways Reformation ideas took shape in people’s lives.

Chapter 7

Campbell, Heidi (2010). When Religion Meets New Media. London: Routledge.
A discussion of how religions adopt and adapt new media for their own ends, with international examples.

Gower, Owen and Jolyon Mitchell (eds) (in press). Religion and the News. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Both academic and professional perspectives on the reporting of religion in the British news media.

Mitchell, Jolyon (2007). Media Violence and Christian Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Includes detailed discussion of how audiences remember, reframe and redescribe news about violence, as well as interact with film, advertising and new media.

Mitchell, Jolyon and Sophia Marriage (eds) (2003). Mediating Religion: Conversations in Media, Religion and Culture. London and New York: T&T Clark.
A collection of articles on media and religion with annotated bibliographies.

Poole, Elizabeth (2002). Reporting Islam: Media Representations of British Muslims. London: I. B. Tauris.
An analysis of British newspaper portrayals of Islam.

Taira, Teemu, Elizabeth Poole and Kim Knott (in press). ‘Religion in the British Media Today’, in Jolyon Mitchell and Owen Gower (eds), Religion in the News. Aldershot: Ashgate.
A summary of research conducted in 2008–2010 on British media portrayals of religion.

Viney, Rachel (1999). ‘Religious Broadcasting on UK Television: Policy, Public Perception and Programmes’, Cultural Trends, 36: 1–28.
An examination of religious broadcasting, policy and programming in the 1990s.

Chapter 8

Chapman, Rachael (2009). ‘Faith and the Voluntary Sector in Urban Governance: Distinctive yet Similar?’, in Adam Dinham, Richard Furbey and Vivien Lowndes (eds), Faith in the Public Realm. Bristol: Policy Press, 203–222.
Explores divergences and continuities in the relationship between Third Sector welfare providers and faith-based ones, to consider the distinctiveness of faith-based services.

Dinham Adam (2009). ‘Faiths and the Provision of Services’, Chapter Six of his book Faiths, Public Policy and Civil Society: Problems, Policies, Controversies.London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Critically examines research and data about the role played by faith communities in the mixed economy of welfare.

Jackson, Robert (2003). ‘Should the State Fund Faith-Based Schools? A Review of the Arguments’, British Journal of Religious Education, 25/2: 89–102.
A discussion of the main arguments for and against state funding of schools with a religious character in the context of England and Wales.

Jackson, Robert, Siebren Miedema, Wolfram Weisse and Jean-Paul Willaime (eds) (2007). Religion and Education in Europe: Developments, Contexts and Debates. Münster: Waxmann.
Includes a chapter by Robert Jackson and Kevin O’Grady on the religious education system in England and Wales, as well as parallel chapters on seven other European countries and discussions of generic European issues concerning religion and education.

Kuyk, Elza, Roger Jensen, David W. Lankshear, Elisabeth Leoh Manna and Peter Schreiner (2007). Religious Education in Europe. Oslo: IKO & ICCS.
Short articles on different systems of religious education in Europe, including Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Prochaska, Frank (2006). Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain. New York: Oxford University Press.
Locates contemporary welfare in the context of the legacy and continuity of Christian provision prior to the welfare state.

Chapter 9

Brewer, John D., Gareth Higgins and Francis Teeney (forthcoming). Religion, Civil Society and Peace in Northern Ireland. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Critically examines the achievements of the churches and Christian peacebuilders during the Northern Ireland peace process, whilst offering insights into the limitations of their contributions.

Mitchell, Claire. (2005). Religion, Identity and Politics in Northern Ireland: Boundaries of Belonging and Belief. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Analyzes how Catholicism and Protestantism inform oppositional communal identities, contributing to division and affecting politics in Northern Ireland.

Morris, Robert M. (ed.) (2009). Church and State in 21st Century Britain: The Future of Church Establishment. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Explains how church and state remain connected in Britain and explores the issues surrounding that connection.

Sandberg, Russell (2011). Law and Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A comprehensive, accessible and expertly informed survey of law relating to religion in Britain.

Steven, Martin H. M. (2010). Christianity and Party Politics: Keeping the Faith. London: Routledge.
Examines the influence of Christianity on contemporary British politics.

Weller, Paul (2008). Religious Diversity in the UK: Contours and Issues. London: Continuum.
Portrays religious diversity in Britain, including its impact on governance and on law relating to religious discrimination and freedom of expression.

Chapter 10

Alexander, Jeffrey (2003). The Meanings of Social Life: A Cultural Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
This is a key text that sets out the theory and methodology of one of the most influential approaches within cultural sociology.

Brown, Callum (2009; 2nd edn [2001]). The Death of Christian Britain. London: Routledge.
This argues for the strength of Christian culture until the 1950s, followed by its sudden collapse in the 1960s, using a gendered analysis.

Lynch, Gordon (2009; 2nd edn). ‘Religion, Media and Cultures of Everyday Life’, in John Hinnells (ed.), The Routledge Companion to the Study of Religion. London: Routledge, 543–557.
This chapter provides an overview of a growing academic literature on religion, media and popular culture and identifies important ways in which this can help us to make sense of contemporary religious change.

Lynch, Gordon (forthcoming). The Sacred in the Modern World: A Cultural Sociological Approach. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
This book explores how the sacred takes broader and more complex cultural forms than suggested by conventional distinctions between the religious and the secular. It discusses, for example, the sacralization of the care of children and the role of news media as a key site for engaging contemporary forms of the sacred.

McLeod, Hugh (2007). The Religious Crisis of the 1960s. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
This argues that the religious crisis in England, Europe, North America and Australia is one generated by liberal Christians’ involvement in creating a modern pluralist society.

Chapter 11

Arweck, Elisabeth (2005). Researching New Religious Movements: Constructions and Controversies. London: Routledge.
A ‘reception study’ which addresses how the emergence of New Religious Movements has been understood and responded to by the interested parties, including a close examination of the intellectual repertoire of the sociology of religion as applied to the understanding of this phenomenon.

Beckford, James A. (2003). Social Theory and Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
A critical examination of how social theorists have tended to construct and interpret religion.

Collins, Randall (2007). ‘The Classical Tradition in Sociology of Religion’, in James A. Beckford and N. Jay Demerath III (eds), The SAGE Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. London: Sage: 19–38.
An account of how the first generation of sociologists shaped social scientific thinking about religion.

Davie, Grace (2007). The Sociology of Religion. London: Sage.
A survey of contemporary sociology of religion which sets out the key questions and interrogates the discipline’s agenda.

Weller, Paul (2008). Religious Diversity in the UK: Contours and Issues. London: Continuum.
An analysis of religious diversity in the UK and of public policy responses towards its growth.

Chapter 12

Beckford, James A. and N. Jay Demerath III (eds) (2007). The Sage Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. London: Sage.
An important sourcebook, especially chapters on ‘Civil Religion’ (Chapter 13), ‘Secularization’ (Chapter 3), ‘Cross-National European Comparisons’ (Chapter 22), and ‘Assessing Modernities’ (Chapter 2).

Martin, David (2005). On Secularization: Towards a Revised General Theory. Aldershot: Ashgate.
Picks up on the author’s General Theory with overviews of the debate on secularization in the Introduction, Chapter 1 and Chapter 9, and of religion in Europe in Chapters 3–8.

McLeod, Hugh (ed.) (2006). The Cambridge History of Christianity: World Christianities c.1914–c.2000. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Important sourcebook, especially introductory and concluding chapters and Chapter 36 by Hugh McLeod, comparing Christianity at the beginning and end of the twentieth century.

Molendijk, Arie L., Justin Beaumont and Christoph Jedan (eds) (2010). Exploring the Postsecular: The Religious, the Political and the Urban. Leiden and Boston: Brill.
Important source, particularly Parts 1 and 2 raising all the issues of exploring the field and conceptualizing the post-secular.

Taylor, Charles (2007). A Secular Age.Cambridge:  Harvard University Press.
Brings together the author’s work from the classic book on The Sources of the Self to the present, and compares the worldview of 1500 with ‘the immanent frame’ of 2000. Chapter 15 offers major clues.