Maren Freudenberg and Astrid Reuter publish edited volume "Social Forms of Religion: European and American Christianity in Past and Present"

Sociologists of religion Maren Freudenberg (CERES) and Astrid Reuter (Münster) have published the result of a cooperation that spans three years, two international workshops, and one central shared research interest: the edited volume Social Forms of Religion: European and American Christianity in Past and Present. Bringing together contributions by sociologists, historians, anthropologists, as well as religious studies and media studies scholars, this anthology focuses on shifting social forms of religion as the ways in which individuals and groups coordinate religious practice across Europe and the Americas. The case studies focus on Catholic, Protestant, Charismatic-Pentecostal, Orthodox and Mormon traditions in Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Guatemala, the United States, and beyond to show how social forms of religion produce community at the same time as they enable individual religious experience. By investigating a mix of group, organization, market exchange, network, event and other forms as expressions and catalysts of religious transformation alike, the volume offers a much-needed addition to the study of the social forms of religion from a social scientific perspective.

Read the full volume here (Open Access): Maren Freudenberg / Astrid Reuter (eds.): Social Forms of Religion. European and American Christianity in Past and Present. Transcript 2024.