Religion and Social Theory

In Religion and Social Theory Bryan Turner assesses the different theoretical approaches to the social function of religion, in particular those of Engels, Durkheim, Weber, Nietzsche, Freud, Parsons, Marcuse, Habermas and Foucault. In so doing, he develops his own distinctive perspective on the role of religion as an institutional link between economic and human reproduction.

Social theories of religion are explored through a resolutely comparative and historical analysis of the Abrahamic faiths - Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The author's sociological approach makes a major contribution to the analysis of religion as a global cultural force in the tensions between consensus and conflict, tradition and modernity.

The second edition of this major overview of the social analysis of religion incorporates a substantial new introduction. It will be essential reading for lecturers and students in sociology of religion, social theory and comparative politics.