Encyclopedia of Religions and Society

Abstract

The Encyclopedia ofReligion and Society can be regarded as the fmt substantialreference work specifically concerned with the sociological study ofreligion. Simply by filling this gap in the existing literature, it is a book thatdeserves to be widely recognized for making this contribution to the field.Although Islam and consideration of Islam in relation to the social sciencesmakes only a very limited appearance in the volume, this new work needs tobe thoroughly assessed for its value in the social scientific study of Muslimcommunities and Islamic societies.One hundred and nine international experts in the sociology of religion havecontributed to the volume. Reflecting the development of the discipline, theencyclopedia has an interdisciplinary character, which makes it a usefulresource not only for sociologists, but also for scholars from anthropology,psychology, and religious studies. As a reference work in the sociology of religion,it would be hard to identify any gaps in terms of entries, especially as allthe standard terms and theories are comprehensively covered. Many conceptsmore closely associated with mainstream sociology (such as “deviance,” “attitude,”“research methods”) also carry an entry and their particular relationshipto the sociology of religion is often drawn out. An especially valuable featureof the work is that there are entries for people and organizations, thereby makingit possible to identify key personalities, publications, and professional societies,past and present. Through the encyclopedia it is possible to piece togetherthe academic and institutional development of the discipline. There is a criticalaspect to most of the longer entries, and this evaluative dimension makesthe book a valuable resource for students. ’Ihe varying length of entries, fromjust a few sentences to essay-length, appears to be carefully and appropriatelyjudged. Most entries carry either a short bibliography or references thus assistingresearchers to locate key texts. The helpful and extensive cross-referencingprovides a further pointer to related concepts and terms, whilst the avoidanceof complex technical jargon makes the book accessible to a wide readership,and those new to the field. The encyclopedia’s very comprehensive anddetailed index will help readers to locate all the occurrences of theories and ...