Latin America plays an increasingly important role in the development of modern Christianity yet it has been underrepresented in current scholarship on religion and science. In this first book on the subject, contributors explore the different ways that religion and science relate to each other.

African American political scientists speak out about their discipline, academic issues and racism in the profession.

The Anthropocene has become a field of studies in which the influence of human activity on the Earth System and nature is both the main threat and the potential solution. Social Representations Theory has been evolving since the 1960s.It links knowledge and practice in everyday life and is an effective way to deal with systemic crises based on common sense. This book assembles key contributions by Latin American scholars working with social representations in the social sciences that are of conceptual relevance to the study of the Anthropocene and that investigate the societal consequences of complex interrelations between common sense and topics of global relevance, such asthe contradictions of sustainable development, the construction of risks beyond risk-perception, health, negotiation and governance in the field of education, gender equality, the usefulness of longitudinal and systemic ethnography and case studies, and agency and the link between inequality, crises and risk society in the context of COVID-19, presenting theoretical and methodological innovations fromSpanish, Portuguese and Frenchresearchthat have rarely been available in English. • This is the first book to address the relevance of Social Representations Theory for the Anthropocene as a societal era• It presents the multidisciplinary scope of Social Representations• This book covers emerging research contributions in Social Representations Theory from Latin America• This book presents innovative research and commentaries by established researchers in the field• This multidisciplinary book should be in the libraries of many disciplines in the social sciences and humanities

This third edition of the successful Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics provides a definitive global survey of the interaction of religion and politics. From the United States to the Middle East, from Asia to Africa, and beyond, religion continues to be an important factor in political activity and organisation. Featuring contributions from an international team of experts, this volume examines the political aspects of the world's major religions, including crucial contemporary issues such as religion and climate change, religion and migration, and religion and war. Each chapter has been updated to reflect the latest developments and thinking in the field, and the handbook also includes new chapters on topics such as religious freedom, religion and populism, proselytizing, humanism and politics, and religious soft power. The four main themes addressed are: • World religions and politics • Religion and governance • Religion and international relations • Religion, security and development References at the end of each chapter guide the reader towards the most up-to-date information on these key topics. This book is an indispensable source of information for students, academics, and the wider public interested in the dynamic relationship between politics and religion.

This title was first published in 2003. This subject area of this work cross-cuts conventional sub-disciplinary boundaries in the study of comparative politics. Connections between religion and and politics can be identified in all of the thematic areas covered by the articles within.

In this book, Carroy Ferguson presents a unique glimpse into the transitional stages in consciousness that many African Americans experience as they explore the essence of being a Black person in U.S. society and the world. Using a model of six transitional stages in consciousness, original essays, and discourses on the symbolism of various historical events, Ferguson engages readers in an intriguing reflective process to give them a better understanding of how transitions in consciousness_from an African American perspective_are largely shaped and greatly influenced by the 'psychology of the times.' The essays, therefore, represent the various dynamics at play as many African Americans engage the contents of their consciousness and learn to explore and transcend various societal challenges. To assist readers in engaging their personal self-reflective processes, Ferguson provides creative exercises and a comprehensive timeline of African American life.

Religion in Sociological Perspective is an introduction to the sociology of religion core text, designed to present and illustrate the basic theories sociologists use to understand the social dimensions of religion. First and foremost, the authors seek to help students understand the perspective from which sociologists view religion. By the time students have finished this book, they should understand the central theories and methods of research in the sociology of religion, and they should have an idea of how to apply these analytical tools to new groups they encounter. The goal of this text is to be illustrative rather than all-encompassing. The Fifth Edition continues to draw on a wide range of perspectives. The text aims to help students recognize the contributions of various theoretical perspectives and the blind spots of each theory. Conflict, functional, social constructionist, and rational choice paradigms are used throughout the text. Various middle-range theories are also utilized to explore specific processes. Despite the effort to introduce many perspectives, however, we have made an effort to enhance integration of the text by using one framework throughout the book: the open systems model.

The empirical case in this study is that of the Hispanic Catholic converts to Islam in the Washington, DC Metropolitan and New Jersey areas of the United States. The central research question is: To what extent do Hispanic Muslim converts play a role in making different choices regarding religious commitment and practice? The argument is that not only do both the more and less active converts play a central role in making choices during the pre-affiliation and post-affiliation stages, but that these choices can often be strategic in nature as they practice the new religion in the United States. These choices are shaped by multiple factors. This contributes to a new understanding of the prevailing debates among Muslims in Europe and the United States on the nature of Muslim minorities in the West—that Muslims here are not merely transplanted but are active participants of diverse expressions of local Islam. The evidence in my research shows that being less active does not mean converts do not play a role or make choices. Both more active and less active converts make choices based on multiple factors. This is especially significant as the main aim of this thesis is to show that the converts make choices and play a role in the post-affiliation stage and that these often have strategic elements.

This book is a wonderful celebration of culture and identity, especially from the cultural lens of the various authors' nation of origin. Culture is viewed as a collective programming of the mind and is at times compared to an onion?the more you peel off the layers, the more you get to learn about the values, beliefs, and norms of the respective societies. As complex as the onion diagram is, and it gives the possibilities of tears due to its complexity, a great understanding is critical to interact and communicate effectively. It is a unique tribute to the many scholars who have embarked on this journey of exploring culture and how identity is defined. It is an intellectual discourse that could act as a springboard for many more experiments to be conducted around the world, more specifically the multidimensional aspects of culture and identity. Other interesting elements in this book are the many historical details and the abundance of insightful illustrations.

The historical interface between science and religion was depicted as an unbridgeable conflict in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Starting in the 1970s, such a conception was too simplistic and not at all accurate when considering the totality of that relationship. This volume evaluates the utility of the “complexity principle” in past, present, and future scholarship. First put forward by historian John Brooke over twenty-five years ago, the complexity principle rejects the idea of a single thesis of conflict or harmony, or integration or separation, between science and religion. Rethinking History, Science, and Religion brings together an interdisciplinary group of scholars at the forefront of their fields to consider whether new approaches to the study of science and culture—such as recent developments in research on science and the history of publishing, the global history of science, the geographical examination of space and place, and science and media—have cast doubt on the complexity thesis, or if it remains a serviceable historiographical model.