Sociology of Religion

This book illustrates the variety of religious, spiritual and other beliefs held by older people, including British Christians, Muslims, Humanists and witnesses of the Soviet persecution of religion.

In this thought-provoking collection, Muslim and non-Muslim academics take a multi-disciplinary approach to humour in Islam. They draw on examples of comedy practices and styles to scope sociological, cultural, theological and political themes, consider humour’s role in fundamentalism, and correct misconceptions about laughter in the religion.

Why do the UK and US disproportionately incarcerate the mentally ill? Via multiple re-framings of the question—theological, socioeconomic, and psychological— Andrew Skotnicki diagnoses a "persecution of the prophetic" at the heart of the contemporary penal system and society more broadly.

This book presents a critical history of criminological thought from the Enlightenment to the present day. Mehozay contends that Western criminological approaches are based upon ‘otherness’ which validate projects of control and exclusion, modernization and care, and even eugenics.

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book brings together reflections, knowledge and learning about the experiences of religious minorities. It showcases the participatory methodologies implemented by its contributors and highlights the importance of using non-extractive methods for engaging with participants.

This edited collection provides interdisciplinary, global, and multi-religious perspectives on the relationship between women’s identities, religion, and social change in the contemporary world.

Providing perspectives from the global North and South, faith leaders, scholars and activists demonstrate the complex connections between faith and abortion, how women and pregnant people are positioned in society and how morality is claimed and challenged.

This book presents a crisis of religion and belief literacy to which education at every level is challenged to respond. It provides a clear pathway for engaging well with religion and belief diversity in public and shared settings.

Written by academics from different disciplines and backgrounds, this book offers an international practical guide to doing diversity in the social sciences.

This overview of Islam and prison provides a thorough understanding of Muslim prisoners’ experiences in Britain and Europe. It explores issues including conversion to Islam, rehabilitation and the extent to which prisons foster extremism, and gives practitioners and policy-makers ideas for better engagement and achieving positive outcomes.

With growing diversity of religion and belief in every sector comes the potential for new dialogues across previously impermeable policy and disciplinary silos. This volume critically challenges policy makers to re-imagine religion and belief as an integral part of public life that contains resources, practices, forms of knowledge and experience.

EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. This book offers a comprehensive overview of how efforts to achieve SDGs can be enhanced by paying greater attention to freedom of religion and belief.