Religion and Change in Modern Britain

This book offers a fully up-to-date and comprehensive guide to religion in Britain since 1945. A team of leading scholars provide a fresh analysis and overview, with a particular focus on diversity and change. They examine:

• relations between religious and secular beliefs and institutions
• the evolving role and status of the churches
• the growth and 'settlement' of non-Christian religious communities
• the spread and diversification of alternative spiritualities
• religion in welfare, education, media, politics and law
• theoretical perspectives on religious change.

The volume presents the latest research, including results from the largest-ever research initiative on religion in Britain, the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme. Survey chapters are combined with detailed case studies to give both breadth and depth of coverage. The text is accompanied by relevant photographs and a companion website.

Linda Woodhead MBE is Professor of Sociology of Religion at Lancaster University, UK and Director of the Religion and Society Research Programme. She is co-editor of Religions in the Modern World (2nd edition, Routledge 2009), co-author of A Sociology of Religious Emotion (OUP 2010) and The Spiritual Revolution (Blackwell 2005), and author of An Introduction to Christianity (CUP 2004).

Rebecca Catto is Research Associate for the Religion and Society Programme at Lancaster University, UK. She has published on religion and law, globalization, and is Principal Investigator on a project researching young atheists in Britain.