Do Social Crises Cause Religious Revivals? What British Church Adherence Rates Show

A 2014 sociology of religion conference invitation asserted that it is ‘A long-standing assumption in the sociology of religion … that there is a correlation between religious resurgence and intense moments of political, economic and socio-cultural crisis.’ We test this proposition against various p...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Bruce, Steve 1954- (Author) ; Voas, David 1955- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2016
In: Journal of religion in Europe
Year: 2016, Volume: 9, Issue: 1, Pages: 26-43
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Great Britain / Society / Crisis / Church attendance
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
CG Christianity and Politics
CH Christianity and Society
KBF British Isles
Further subjects:B Crisis crises religious revival religious resurgence secularization
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:A 2014 sociology of religion conference invitation asserted that it is ‘A long-standing assumption in the sociology of religion … that there is a correlation between religious resurgence and intense moments of political, economic and socio-cultural crisis.’ We test this proposition against various post-1900 British or uk church adherence data and find no evidence to support the claim. On the contrary, the trajectories of decline are remarkably smooth. We suggest that such smoothness better supports the sociological view of secularization as a long-run process with amorphous and deep causes than it supports the claim that religious change is a response to specific events.
ISSN:1874-8929
Contains:In: Journal of religion in Europe
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/18748929-00901001