Collectivistic Religions Religion, Choice, and Identity in Late Modernity [Hardcover]

Collectivistic Religionsdraws upon empirical studies of Christianity in Europe to address questions of religion and collective identity, religion and nationalism, religion and public life, and religion and conflict. It moves beyond the attempts to tackle such questions in terms of 'choice' and 'religious nationalism' by introducing the notion of 'collectivistic religions' to contemporary debates surrounding public religions. Using a comparison of several case studies, this book challenges the modernist bias in understanding of collectivistic religions as reducible to national identities. A significant contribution to both the study of religious change in contemporary Europe and the theoretical debates that surround religion and secularization, it will be of key interest to scholars across a range of disciplines, including sociology, political science, religious studies, and geography.Slavica Jakelicis Research Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Co-director of the Program on Religion, Culture, and Democracy at the University of Virginia, USA