Religion on the Edge ─ De-Centering and Re-Centering the Sociology of Religion

The thirteen essays in this volume challenge conventional scholarly approaches to the sociology of religion. They urge readers to look beyond congregational settings, beyond the United States, and to religions other than Christianity, and encourage critical engagement with religion's complex social consequences. Religion on the Edge offers groundbreaking new methodologies and models, bringing to light conceptual lacunae, re-centering what is unsettled by their use, and inviting a significant reordering of long-accepted political and economic hierarchies. The book shows how social scientists across the disciplines can engage with the sociology of religion. By challenging many of its long-standing empirical and analytic tendencies, the contributors to this volume show how their work informs and is informed by debates in other fields and the analytical purchase gained by bringing these many conversations together. Religion on the Edge will be a crucial resource for any scholar seeking to understand our post-modern, post-secular world.

Courtney Bender is Associate Professor of Religion at Columbia University.

Wendy Cadge is Associate Professor of Sociology at Brandeis University.

Peggy Levitt is a Professor of Sociology at Wellesley College and Co-Director of the Transnational Studies Initiative at Harvard University.

David Smilde is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Georgia and Senior Fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America.