This book uses empirical data and theory to explore the role of faiths as public actors; their contribution to welfare services, how they help build community cohesion, and break it down, and what it means for them and for others to be involved in new modes of governance.

"Instead of seeing the family as a "monolithic" entity, as though separate from its surroundings, this new approach draws attention to assemblages of various types that in different constellations and through different transactions relate people to each other as families and kin"--

As science and technology have pervaded modern life to an ever greater degree, social scientists have been led to find questions of the causes and consequences of 'expert' knowledge arising in places that would have been felt unlikely hitherto. Varcoe, McNeil and Yearley's book assembles nine exemplary studies by sociologists, each of which explores an aspect of the current scientific-technological 'revolution'. Some popular ideas are challenged. So, too, implicitly, are certain large-scale social scientific theories claiming to have discerned in science and technology an overall meaning.

Based on primary research, this book explores the controversies, policies and practices of 'public faith', questioning perceptions of a fixed divide between religious and secular participants in public life and challenging prevailing concepts of a monolithic 'neutral' public realm. It takes an in-depth look at the distinctiveness of faith groups' contribution, but also probes the conflicts and dilemmas that arise, assessing the role and capacity of faith groups within specific public policy contexts, including education, regeneration, housing and community cohesion. 'Faith in the public realm' will be of interest to students, academics, policy-makers and practitioners in the public and voluntary sectors, and in faith communities themselves.

One, God, Two Goddesses presents three studies, one of Tamil myths of the god Murugan and two of goddess rituals: Gangamma in Tirupati and Paiditalli in Vizianagaram, both in Andhra Pradesh. All three essays search for lineaments of the cosmos that these deities inhabit and shape. These cosmoi are characterised by the dynamism of their incessant interior movement. Should they become still, they would die. Deities activate and regenerate such a cosmos. The dynamism of Murugan's cosmos eliminates the chaotic. Through ritual, Gangamma regenerates her cosmos through feminising it. Through ritual, Paiditalli annually re-grows the historic little kingdom of Vizianagaram, regenerating its kingship. All three studies point to the need to rethink cosmology in South India.

Despite the growing multi-faith and multi-ethnic nature of Britain, there is insufficient knowledge about diversity in family practices across ethno-religious groups. This book fills that gap, exploring family practices values, roles, relationships, support systems and daily routines among South Asian Muslim families in Britain.

This book provides a nuanced account of cultural competence, knowledge and skills illustrated in distinctive taste in the middle and upper classes in Dublin, Ireland (Bourdieu, 1984, 1986). It highlights how the development of cultural taste at a young age is linked to cultural participation in later life. Inspired by work that captures the textured social cartography of distinctive cultural taste (Bennett, Emmison & Frow, 1999; Bennett, Savage, Silva, Warde, Gayo-Cal & Wright, 2009), this research charts the changing nature of cultural participation in Dublin, Ireland and shows how cultural consumption has broadened from the narrow range of traditional high art forms towards one which grazes across the general register of culture. As elsewhere, this omnivorous, broad and pluralistic cultural palette has not altered patterns of distinction in cultural participation, rather it belies an emerging cultural capital profile - one where art form boundaries have collapsed but social boundaries and cultural distinction remains intact. Through interviews with two age cohorts (18-24yrs) and (45-54yrs) in Dublin in 2019, this research shows how the dominant class, through histories of cultural exposure have developed cultural taste and competence that is remarkably enduring. Reviewing available data on arts attendance and cultural participation in Ireland today, this text highlights how years of cultural familiarity allow individuals to exert a cultural dominance that facilitates class to be performed obliquely. It also demonstrates how existing surveys reinforce traditional ways of seeing with 'art' considered highbrow, formal and valued while culture is domestic, informal and less valued in the eyes of polity. This view informs Irish arts strategy and policy, ultimately reinforcing that 'ways of seeing' and policy perspectives, do matter (Berger, 1972).

A major objective of this book is to identify the key determinants of the "East" and the "West" in the field of intercultural communication. It examines but also counter-attacks essentialist and culturalist analyses of intercultural communication between China and the rest of the world. Offering a cross-country examination and comparison of drought awareness and experience, this book shows two fields of research, which are complementary but rarely found side by side, i.e. the Arts and Intercultural Encounters, serve as illustrations for theoretical and methodological discussions about intercultural communication between China and the West. Scholarly and media discourses will find this work thought-provoking, instructive and informative.

Talk about Prayer is an experiment in writing ethnography, a commentary on a conversation with Mama Regine Tshitanda, the leader of a Charismatic prayer group (groupe de priere) in Lubumbashi (Katanga, Democratic Republic of the Congo) and members of her family in 1986.

This book examines the politics of Islam and the state in Indonesia over recent decades, during which time there has been a notable resurgence of Islamic political movements. It argues that after a period in the late 1980s and 1990s, when the state worked to bring religious authority and institutions within state-prescribed limits in order to support the official state ideology and political stability, there was a change whereby Suharto incorporated Muslim interests within the political system. One unintended consequence of this was to raise Muslims' political expectations and to mobilise Muslim political interests in the context of broadening 'pro-democracy' opposition which contributed to the downfall of Suharto's regime. Based on extensive original research, including interviews with participants, the book charts the shifts in relations between Islam and the Indonesian state over time, assessing the impact on other groups, and on the cohesion of Indonesia overall.

Robes and Honor is a fascinating exploration of the possible common origin and subsequent developments of investiture across medieval Christianity and medieval Islam. The ceremony in all of its cultural variety was much more than the public adoption of a high-value textile as symbol of office; within a culture, robing established a personal link "from the hand" of the giver--king, pope, head of a sect, ambassador--to the receiver--noble, general, official, nun, or acolyte. This volume challenges current thinking on religious and regional boundaries of "cultures," raises semiotic issues about imagined communities, and addresses problems of kingship.

The Yezidis are a Kurdish-speaking religious minority, neither Muslim, Christian nor Jewish. At a time when studies of Kurdish nation-building are developing, this book is the first to consider Kurdish oral traditions within their social context and explain their relevance for a large Kurdish community.

This book explores the leading role that cities can play in shaping progressive policies in collaboration with various stakeholders. It examines the timing of such shifts to progressivity in cities, the interactions that enable progressive actions to be developed and sustained, and the challenges and constraints facing progressive cities. The book approaches the themes using an array of methods to investigate how progressive city governments emerge, what constitutes a "progressive city" in terms of governance institutions, processes and outcomes and whether progressive cities are destined to be ephemeral or if they can be sustained over time. With its focus on the emerging role of local governments in shaping city futures, this book is useful for students, academics, government official and policy makers interested in geography, sociology, urban planning, public policy, political economy, social movements, participatory democracy and Asian and European studies.

Many people still believe in life after death, but modern institutions operate as though this were the only world - eternity is now eclipsed from view in society and even in the church. This book carefully observes the eclipse - what caused it, how full is it, what are its consequences, will it last? How significant is recent interest in near-death experiences and reincarnation?

The chapters of Religion, Gender, and Family Violence: When Prayers Are Not Enough have been written from multiple disciplinary perspectives (sociology, religious studies, law) and based on research within diverse religious traditions including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, as well as new religious movements. Similarities and differences between traditions are highlighted based on empirical research which shows how people actually deal with family violence in different contexts. This book also addresses some of the larger historical and political backgrounds that impact the experiences of family violence amongst ethno-religious minorities. The lives of religious victims and perpetrators of family violence are considered, as well as the responsibilities of religious leaders, congregations and secular professionals in addressing this widespread social problem.

This book is a socio-philosophical journey across several aspects of our society's focus on individual freedom, taking cues from some of the most prominent thinkers of our time. The auhtor posits that the human quest for freedom (mostly dominated by the Western culture but by no means confined to the West) has reached its ultimate paradox of making contemporary humans fundamentally unable to act as ecosystems (thus cooperate and collaborate). They have become egosystems, completely centred on the attainment of their own individual satisfaction. The author sees this as the culmination of a rightful quest for self-affirmation, which has been a key driver of progress across human history and by no means a negative one. But the paradox is that such a human-centred notion of freedom and individual accomplishment results in a much reduced ability to operate in sync with others, at the time when mankind would need more cooperation, collaboration and selflessness to address the key challenges it faces (from climate change to inequalities). Through the examination of the broad and interdisciplinary themes typical of social philosophy and the most recent cultural studies, in direct confrontation with the thought of authors such as Lipovetsky and Bauman, Lasch and Beck, Ehrenberg and Han, this book examines shifts in cultural norms at the possible end of a millenary civilization.

This book discusses the relationship between law and memory and explores the ways in which memory can be thought of as contributing to legal socialization and legal meaning-making. Against a backdrop of critical legal pluralism which examines the distributedness of law(s), this book introduces the notion of mnemonic legality. It emphasises memory as a resource of law rather than an object of law, on the basis of how it substantiates senses of belonging and comes to frame inclusions and exclusions from a national community on the basis of linear-trajectory and growth narratives of nationhood. Overall, it explores the sensorial and affective foundations of law, implicating memory and perceptions of belonging within this process of creating legality and legitimacy. By identifying how memory comes to shape and inform notions of law, it contributes to legal consciousness research and to important questions informing much socio-legal research.

This book is an epistemological journey studying the art museum across disciplines. The aim is to explore how each discipline frames its investigation of the museum. Grounded in the "philosophy of practices" by the Italian philosopher Carlo Sini, this volume claims that the art museum exists in reality as an interdisciplinary space, but knowledge about it is built by numerous disciplines. The book opens with a theoretical framework based on the philosophy of practice by the philosopher Carlo Sini, explaining why the art museum is considered an interdisciplinary space and what is the epistemological role of academic disciplines. Each following chapter explains what we learn about the museum from each discipline. The book ends with a model of how we can bring these different disciplines together in one class, without embarking in a time-consuming program building and offers further reflections on the value of this epistemological investigation. It will be of use to upper-level students and researchers, in sociology of the arts, sociology of culture, interior architecture, art history, and nonprofit management.

Full Subtitle: When the World's Religions Sit Down to Talk about the Future of Human Life and the Plight of This Planet This short volume seeks to capture the energy and dynamism of these world religious traditions-a central force in human history and society-for illuminating and addressing major global issues: population growth, environmental destruction, freedom, the rights of women and minorities, the place of economics and work, issues of sexuality and the body. Based on consultations of leading scholars and religious leaders from a variety of traditions, and worked out in conjunction with international conferences sponsored by the Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health, and Ethics, this book highlights the special insights and lessons each major religious tradition has to offer today.

From Policemen to Revolutionaries uncovers the less-known story of Sikh emigrants in Shanghai in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Yin Cao argues that the cross-border circulation of personnel and knowledge across the British colonial and the Sikh diasporic networks, facilitated the formation of the Sikh community in Shanghai, eventually making this Chinese city one of the overseas hubs of the Indian nationalist struggle. By adopting a translocal approach, this study elaborates on how the flow of Sikh emigrants, largely regarded as subalterns, initially strengthened but eventually unhinged British colonial rule in East and Southeast Asia.

"The book on offer here is fascinating. I do not think it is proper to classify it as 'philosophy' or 'sociology' or 'comparative education'. It is a work sui generis. Its cultural and historical range is extraordinary. Its illustrations are themselves arresting. Its literature is well outside disciplinary conventions and ranges across a number of languages. Mirabile dictu!" Professor Robert Cowen How have modern societies arrived at assuming: * Culture is non-essential! * Higher education is to train economically but not socio-politically active & engaged citizens! * Economic wealth is the most important and prominent form of individual and national assets! * Precariousness and socio-economic gaps are due to individuals' skills and capacities but not the failure of legal, political, and social systems! * Freedom and equality are about "choices in having" but not necessarily about "ways of being and becoming"! Torabian argues these assumptions have not been constructed overnight and that COVID-19 has simply revealed their long-term fabrication and impact since the 1970s. This book is a fascinating voyage from the Middle Ages to today. It travels across different socio-cultural and political contexts drawing on arts, literary works, music, philosophical thoughts, economic and social concepts. It explores value systems and perceptions of wealth, poverty, and inequality and depicts the mutual impact and shifting role of (higher) education and culture and societies- particularly when related to social revolutions, political participation, and collective quests for equality and justice across time and spaces. Examining instrumentalisation of culture and education by the powerful elite, Torabian delineates mechanisms through which values are fabricated and imposed on the masses. Drawing on some catching examples, she explains the authoritarian elite do so through visible rewards and punishments, while in capitalist societies power remains invisible and indirect. In both contexts, though, she skilfully demonstrates, the powerful groups transform the role and meaning of culture and higher education to facilitate normalisation and internalisation of their fabricated value system among the masses. Consequently, Torabian celebrates the recently accelerated quest for socio-ecological justice and sustainability across societies as a fortunate cosmopolitan shift. This, she believes, announces a rupture with the dominant capitalist ideology that has reigned the world since the 1970s through celebrity culture, media, propaganda, and by reducing higher education to an economic activity. The pursuit of a socio-ecological contract based on fairness, justice, and participation, Torabian argues, requires a renewed value system in which the socio-political role of culture and higher education can be revitalised. To this end, she introduces an innovative framework, i.e., the Big Wealth Pie (the topic of the author's upcoming book in this series) and proposes using transgressive education, resistance pedagogy, and teaching ignorance. She reckons such a social contract can be a global reality if "being" replaces the capitalist ideology of "having"; a process that can be started and reified by questioning what is or is not essential in socio-ecologically just societies. The book is thought-provoking and timely in questioning values and social institutions that have normalised precariousness, inequality, and poverty within a consumerist logic.

In the twentieth century dispensationalism emerged as one of the most influential forces in American religion as well as one of America's most significant religious exports. By the close of the century, dispensationalism had developed into a global religious phenomenon claiming millions of adherents. Scanning for the "signs of the times" in current world events, scouring their Bibles for prophetic meaning, and creating vivid and elaborate stories about the end times, dispensationalists have played a major role in transforming American religion and politics. The most common contemporary form of prophecy belief, dispensationalism also plays a significant role in American popular culture (65 million copies of the Left Behind novels sold) and throughout the world, influencing movements from the Nation of Islam to global Pentecostalism. Despite its importance and continuing appeal, however, scholars often reduce dispensationalism to an anti-modern, apocalyptic literalist branch of Protestant fundamentalism. Brendan Pietsch argues that, on the contrary, the seemingly mysterious allure of prophecy belief can be understood as a form of technological modernism. Pietsch shows that dispensational thinking and practices, which emerged between 1870 and 1920, grew out of the popular fascination with applying technological methods - such as quantification and classification - to the interpretation of texts and time. The central node of this network of texts, scholars, institutions, and practices was the lightning-rod Bible teacher C.I. Scofield, whose best-selling Scofield Reference Bible became the canonical formulation of dispensational thought. The first book to contextualize dispensationalism in this new and provocative way, Dispensational Modernism shows how the mainstream, urban Protestant clergy of this time, as they began developing new "scientific" methods for interpreting the Bible also sought to create new grounds for confidence in religious understandings of the Bible and of time itself.