Young People’s Attitudes to Religious Diversity

Elisabeth Arweck is Principal Research Fellow in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU), Centre for Education Studies, University of Warwick, and the Editor of the Journal of Contemporary Religion. Her recent research has focused on young people’s attitudes to religious diversity and the religious socialisation and nurture of young people. Recent publications include a number of co-authored articles (with Eleanor Nesbitt) and (co-edited) volumes, such as Religion and Knowledge (with Mathew Guest, Ashgate 2013), Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age (with Chris Deacy, Ashgate 2009) and Reading Religion in Text and Context (with Peter Collins, Ashgate 2006). She is the author of several book chapters and of Researching New Religious Movements in the West (Routledge 2007) and co-author (with Peter Clarke) of New Religious Movements in Western Europe: An Annotated Bibliography (Greenwood Press 1997).

"This volume makes particularly valuable and original contributions to the public debate about religious diversity not only because it tackles such a ‘hot button’ topic but also because its approach foregrounds young people’s own opinions and attitudes. Contributors are also careful to clarify the theoretical debates in which their empirical investigations are grounded and the methods that they used to collect information. Readers will appreciate the book’s extensive scope as well as its intensive drilling down into robust findings about young people and their attitudes to religious diversity."- James A. Beckford, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the University of Warwick"This book offers a fascinating insight into young people’s attitudes to religious diversity that ought to be obligatory reading for anyone concerned with supporting peaceful coexistence. The foregrounding of young people’s perspectives should be commended because this provision of agency gives rare and pertinent understanding into the defining experiences of a generation informing the future of the UK and its relations to the world. Scholars, teachers and policymakers will hopefully listen and take appropriate action so as to ensure social cohesion."- Louise K. Gramstrup, The University of Edinburgh in Journal of Beliefs & Values, 2017

• Part 1. Setting the Context 1. The ‘Young People’s Attitudes to Religious Diversity’ Project in the Context of Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU) Research, Robert Jackson & Ursula McKenna 2. The Qualitative Strand: Listening in Depth, Elisabeth Arweck & Julia Ipgrave 3. The Quantitative Strand: An Individual Differences Approach, Leslie J Francis, Gemma Penny & Mandy Robbins Part 2. Qualitative perspectives 4. Sources of Knowledge and Authority: Religious Education for Young Muslims in a Birmingham Comprehensive School, Julia Ipgrave 5. Uniting Two Communities or Creating a Third Community? Research in a Northern Irish Integrated School, Julia Ipgrave 6. Cradling Catholics in Secular Scotland: Research in a Scottish Roman Catholic High School, Julia Ipgrave 7. The Matter of Context: The Case of Two Community Schools in Wales, Elisabeth Arweck 8. Religious Diversity as a Personal and Social Value: Impressions from a Multicultural School in London, Elisabeth Arweck Part 3. Quantitative Perspectives 9. Does RE Work and Contribute to the Common Good in England? Leslie J Francis, Gemma Penny & Ursula McKenna 10. Testing the ‘Worlds apart’ Thesis: Catholic and Protestant Schools in Northern Ireland, Leslie J Francis, Gemma Penny & Philip Barnes 11. Growing up Catholic in Scotland: Not One Catholic Community but Three, Leslie J Francis, Gemma Penny & Peter Neil 12. Schools with a Religious Character and Community Cohesion in Wales, Leslie J Francis, Gemma Penny & Tania ap Siôn 13. The Personal and Social Significance of Diverse Religious Affiliation in Multi-faith London, Leslie J Francis & Gemma Penny Part 4. International Engagement 14. Young People and Religious Diversity: A Canadian Perspective, Lori G. Beaman, Peter Beyer and Christine L. Cusack 15. A Collage of Contexts: Young People and Religious Diversity in the United States, Mary Elizabeth Moore 16. Young People and Religious Diversity: A European Perspective, with Particular Reference to Germany, Alexander Yendell