Drawing from extensive ethnographic research on abortion debates in public spaces, this book explores the beliefs, motivations and practices of UK anti-abortion activists. Whilst they represent a tiny minority, there is recent evidence of an increase in activism outside UK abortion clinics; faith-based groups regularly organise 'vigils' seeking to deter service users from entering clinics. In response to this, pro-choice groups launched a campaign for buffer-zones around clinics. Although there is overwhelming public support for abortion, it remains an area of public contestation that touches on ideas about bodily autonomy, religious freedom and reproductive rights. Despite being active in the UK since before the 1967 Abortion Act, anti-abortion activism has received little attention. Taking a lived religion approach, Anti-Abortion Activism in the UK explores the sacred and profane commitments of anti-abortion activists and counter-demonstrations outside clinics, examining the contestations over space. The authors argue that as a moral reform social movement, the anti-abortion activists typically frame their activism in terms of risk and abortion harm, but their religiously-informed understanding of ultra-sacrificial motherhood as 'natural' for women undermines this framing. Their conservative gender and sexuality attitudes position them culturally as a moral minority. The displays of public religion are also anomalous in a country in which religion is usually seen as a private issue. Their presence outside abortion clinics causes a significant amount of distress, but public support for the establishment of safe zones outside of abortion-service provision is strong and is a proportionate response to safeguard the freedoms of those seeking abortion.

Taking the notion of embodiment as a starting point, this volume maps the interconnecting relationships between religion, gender and sexuality. The chapters highlight how the body - its location, the narratives that surround it, its movement and negotiations - is central to understanding these multifaceted relationships. The contributors recognise the ways in which gender and sexuality are crucial to how we embody religion and encourage a more complex and nuanced understanding of embodied religion. The material is organised according to three central themes: (1) the relationship between the religious and the secular; (2) power, regulation and resistance; and (3) the symbolism of gendered bodies. Cutting across a range of disciplinary perspectives, Embodying Religion, Gender and Sexuality will be relevant to students of sociology, anthropology, gender and sexuality studies, theology and religious studies.

Presenting qualitative and quantitative findings on the lived experiences of around seven hundred young adults from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and mixed-faith backgrounds, Religious and Sexual Identities provides an illuminating and nuanced analysis of young adults' perceptions and negotiations of their religious, sexual, youth and gender identities. It demonstrates how these young adults creatively construct meanings and social connections as they navigate demanding but exciting spaces in which their multiple identities intersect. Accessible quantitative analyses are combined with rich interview and video diary narratives in this theoretically-informed exploration of religious and sexual identities in contemporary society. A timely investigation revealing the multiplicity of contemporary identities, this book will appeal not only to sociologists and scholars of religion, but also to those working in the fields of youth studies, sexuality, gender and identity.

Taking the notion of embodiment as a starting point, this volume maps the interconnecting relationships between religion, gender and sexuality. The chapters highlight how the body - its location, the narratives that surround it, its movement and negotiations - is central to understanding these multifaceted relationships. The contributors recognise the ways in which gender and sexuality are crucial to how we embody religion and encourage a more complex and nuanced understanding of embodied religion. The material is organised according to three central themes: (1) the relationship between the religious and the secular; (2) power, regulation and resistance; and (3) the symbolism of gendered bodies. Cutting across a range of disciplinary perspectives, Embodying Religion, Gender and Sexuality will be relevant to students of sociology, anthropology, gender and sexuality studies, theology and religious studies.

This book examines key themes and concepts pertaining to religious and sexual identities and expressions, mapping theoretical, methodological, and empirical dimensions. It explores the ways in which debates around sexuality and religion have been framed, and what research is still needed to expand the field as it develops. Through the deployment of contemporary research, including data from the authors' own projects, Religion and Sexualities offers an encompassing account of the sociology of sexuality and religion, considering theoretical and methodological lenses, queer experiences, and how sexuality is gendered in religious contexts. This comprehensive text will act as an essential accompaniment to scholars and students across the social sciences and humanities, whether they have a general interest in the field or are embarking on their own research in this area.

Presenting qualitative and quantitative findings on the lived experiences of around seven hundred young adults from Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and mixed-faith backgrounds, Religious and Sexual Identities provides an illuminating and nuanced analysis of young adults' perceptions and negotiations of their religious, sexual, youth and gender identities. It demonstrates how these young adults creatively construct meanings and social connections as they navigate demanding but exciting spaces in which their multiple identities intersect. Accessible quantitative analyses are combined with rich interview and video diary narratives in this theoretically-informed exploration of religious and sexual identities in contemporary society. A timely investigation revealing the multiplicity of contemporary identities, this book will appeal not only to sociologists and scholars of religion, but also to those working in the fields of youth studies, sexuality, gender and identity.

Pre-school children have fundamentally different attitudes towards the future and attendant notions of time and space. For this reason, early childhood professionals are optimally placed to lay important foundations for young children's long term development. Children's flexibility of thought, their positive and constructive outlook on life, their sense of the continuity of time, their creativity and imagination and their sense of personal connection with time and the future, are all qualities that should be recognised and addressed in early childhood educational programmes as a means of counteracting the difficulty youths experience in knowing what to expect in their future lives and coming to understand their roles in shaping them.
Reframing the Early Childhood Curriculum offers fresh insight into:
*examining futurists' and early childhood theorists' thinking of the relevance of planning for children's long term needs in early childhood
*identifying the skills, attitudes and outlooks required to assist young children attending early childhood programmes in their long term growth and development
*exploring the means through which these skills, attitudes and outlooks can be achieved in curriculum frameworks through specific goals and learning experiences against the background of youth and young children's views of the future.

Pre-school children have fundamentally different attitudes towards the future and attendant notions of time and space. For this reason, early childhood professionals are optimally placed to lay important foundations for young children's long term development. Children's flexibility of thought, their positive and constructive outlook on life, their sense of the continuity of time, their creativity and imagination, and their sense of personal connection with time and the future, are all qualities that should be recognized and addressed in early childhood educational programmes as a means of counteracting the difficulty youths experience in knowing what to expect in their future lives and coming to understand their roles in shaping them. Reframing the Early Childhood Curriculum offers fresh insight into: * examining futurists' and early childhood theorists' thinking of the relevance of planning for children's long term needs in early childhood * identifying the skills, attitudes and outlooks required to assist young children attending early childhood programmes in their long term growth and development * exploring the means through which these skills, attitudes and outlooks can be achieved in curriculum frameworks through specific goals and learning experiences against the background of youth and young children's views of the future.

This book examines key themes and concepts pertaining to religious and sexual identities and expressions, mapping theoretical, methodological, and empirical dimensions. It explores the ways in which debates around sexuality and religion have been framed, and what research is still needed to expand the field as it develops. Through the deployment of contemporary research, including data from the authors' own projects, Religion and Sexualities offers an encompassing account of the sociology of sexuality and religion, considering theoretical and methodological lenses, queer experiences, and how sexuality is gendered in religious contexts. This comprehensive text will act as an essential accompaniment to scholars and students across the social sciences and humanities, whether they have a general interest in the field or are embarking on their own research in this area.