Author Description

"Scholars and public figures alike have noted that, while the West seems to be in the throes of secularization, other puzzling developments have simultaneously taken place. Foremost among these is the recent turn toward spirituality. What does it mean to be "spiritual but not religious"? And more important, what does it mean for liberal democracies that this phenomenon has become increasingly prevalent since the 1960s? The conventional answer, espoused by most sociologists of religion, is that "spirituality" is a basically meaningless term that lacks cultural coherence or institutional support and thus holds little public significance; previous work has for the most part examined its effects on individuals or at best on the declining affiliation with religious denominations. This authoritative volume, grounded in a novel theoretical approach, radically challenges these views, demonstrating that the spiritual turn has also had a profound influence on the public sphere in a number of areas. Comprising original chapters from the leading sociologists of spirituality in North America and Western Europe including Candy Gunther Brown (Indiana), Jaime Kucinskas (Hamilton), Colin Campbell (York), and Linda Woodhead (UCL), the book makes a convincing case that Western spirituality not only signals a distinct new religious tradition but also has been increasingly institutionalized-in spheres and sites as diverse as medicine, the workplace, Silicon Valley, and political activism on both left and right. Thus, contrary to popular opinion, far from being publicly insignificant, spirituality resides at the center of Western social and political life in the twenty-first century"--