Product Description: Steve Bruce explores Scotland's transformation from the largely devout Presbyterian country of 1900, with the church as a major social force, to the diverse, more secular society of today, when less than 10 per cent of Scots attend church...read more

Product Description: Women are more religious than men. Despite being excluded from leadership positions, in almost every culture and religious tradition, women are more likely than men to pray, to worship, and to claim that their faith is important to them...read more

The decline in power, popularity and prestige of religion across the modern world is not a short-term or localized trend nor is it an accident. It is a consequence of subtle but powerful features of modernization. Renowned sociologist, Steve Bruce, elaborates the secularization paradigm and defends it against a wide variety of recent attempts at rebuttal and refutation. Using the best available statistical and qualitative evidence Bruce considers the implications for the secularization paradigm of the extent to which new religious movements or New Age spiritualities are replacing religion; changes in the nature and power of folk religion and superstition; rational choice alternatives to the secularization paradigm; the popularity and political influence of religion in the USA; religious change in the developing world; reactions to Islam in Europe; and the effects of recent controversies over the public place of religion. Bruce presents a robust defence of the secularization paradigm, clarifying its arguments for the benefit of all sides of the debate.

This important new volume seeks to provide significant contribution to our understanding of religion and politics, demonstrating through comparisons with other countries the unusually complex nature of the interaction of religion and politics in the United Kingdom. Bruce provides a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the field, covering key topics including: Religion and Violence in Northern Ireland A UK-US comparison of the relationship between the church and the nation state Links between Protestantism and the rise of modern democracy The relationship between Methodism and Socialism The impact that ethnic minority status and religious values have on political alignment This work will be of great interest to students and scholars of religion, politics and religious sociology.

The career of the Revd Ian Paisley raises vital questions about the links between religion and politics in the modern world. Paisley is unique in having founded his own church and party and led both to success, so that he effectively has a veto over political developments in Northern Ireland. Steve Bruce draws on over 20 years of close acquaintance with Paisley's people to describe and explain Paisleyism. In this clearly written account, Bruce charts Paisley's movement from the maverick fringes to the centre of Ulster politics and discusses in detail the changes in his party that accompanied its rise. At the heart of this account are vital questions for modern societies. How can religion and politics mix? Do different religions produce different sorts of politics? What is clear is that Paisley's people are not jihadis intent on imposing their religion on the unGodly. For all that religion plays a vital part in Paisley's personal political drive and explains some of his success, he plays by the rules of liberal democracy.

Topical and important Key Concepts volumeLively and accessible analysis of the full range of fundamentalismsNow updated to include discussions of the implications of 9/11 and the resurgence of IslamAuthor is well-established in this field, and read widely across the worldSuitable for use in a range of different social science subjects

Product Description: Is Scotland a sectarian society?Scotland is divided not by religion as much as by arguments about the enduring importance of religious divisions. The 'curse' of Sectarianism is debated in the Parliament, the General Assembly and in the media...read more

Product Description: Islamic fundamentalists wreck the financial heart of New York;Hindus destroy a mosque at Ayodhya; Orthodox Jews battlePalestinians for possession of holy sites; in Egypt, Israel andIndia political leaders are murdered by religious zealots...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Drawing on an international range of examples, Steve Bruce offers a comprehensive and up-to-date defence of the secularisation debate. (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Steve Bruce conveys the essence of the field of sociology in this fascinating volume. A well-known populizer of the discipline, Bruce presents here an introduction to a way of thinking that will appeal to anyone interested in deepening their understanding of modern society. Bruce reasserts the value of sociology as a social science, as a framework of understanding the human condition that grounds its explanations in reliable observations of the real world. Drawing on studies of social class, crime and deviance, work in bureaucracies, and changes in religious and political organizations, Bruce explores the tension between the individual's role in society and society's role in shaping the individual. Sociology: A Very Short Introduction demonstrates the value of sociology as a perspective for understanding the modern world. (view table of contents)

Product Description: People of the western world now have unprecedented freedom to choose their religion. Here, one of the world's leading sociologist of religion argues that the liberty and freedom to choose religion corrodes faith and that religion remains most vital when it is part of ethnic and national identity...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Steve Bruce's important new study presents a detailed comparative analysis of conservative Protestant politics in the UK, USA, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand. Reflecting on the nature and place of religion in industrial societies, Bruce examines the constraints that culturally diverse societies place on those who wish to promote political agendas based on religious ideas...read more (view table of contents, read Amazon.com's description)

Product Description: Manchester United has risen in the last three years to the pinnacle of English football, crowning their achievements by winning the first Premier League Championships in 1993. At Christmas in the 1993/4 season they were 13 points clear at the top of the league...read more

The people of the Middle Ages did what the Church told them God required. The sovereign consumers of the modern world pick and mix' their own religions, Starting with the Reformation and ending with New Age spirituality, this book offers a comprehensive sociological description and explanation of the changes in the religious life of Western society that have accompanied modernization. This major new book from a leading sociologist of religion tracks the Church's changing role from monolith to Sect, to Denomination, and at the end of the twentieth century, to the Cult. What were the forces that brought about this change? What is the real role for the Church in the modern world? Professor Steve Bruce answers these questions in a clearly argued and accessible way. Including substantial chapters on religion in the USA, religion and ethnicity, and the New Age, Religion in the Modern World is an invaluable resource for students of sociology, religion or history and anyone with a real interest in looking behind the headlines for the place of religion in today's society

This textbook provides the student with a comprehensive and accessible overview of the nature and importance of religion in Britain today.

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Product Description: The claim that modern societies are less religious than their predecessors because modernity itself undermines the plausibility of religion has been almost an orthodoxy. But increasingly this "secularization thesis" is being challenged on a number of fronts...read more

Product Description: Since the start of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, working-class Protestants have used violence and terror as much as their Catholic counterparts. Yet despite being responsible for half the civilian casualties of the current conflict and having subverted numerous political initiatives, such loyalist paramilitary organizations as the Ulster Defence Association, the Ulster Volunteer Force, and the Red Hand Commando have been little studied by scholars...read more

Product Description: What is the significance of televangelism in America? How is it organized and financed? Who watches it? These are some of the key questions raised and answered in this book. The author offers a measured analysis of all aspects of televangelism...read more

Product Description: The resurgence during the Reagan administration of right-wing organizations--like Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority--committed to bringing religion back into American politics, reflected the determination of fundamentalists to fight against a perceived domination that threatened the autonomy of conservative Protestantism from a liberal and cosmopolitan elite...read more

Product Description: The first work to explore schism and division in the Protestant churches. Bruce combines provocative argument with fascinating illustrations from the history of the Protestant churches in England. This book should be of interest to students and teachers of sociology of religion and history...read more