(Un)Believing in Modern Society

"If you read just one book on the sociology of religion published in the last ten years, this is the one to choose. It provides both a synthesis of earlier research and a fresh analysis of religious change in modern society. It combines the general reach of quantitative studies with the rich detail of qualitative work. Best of all, it offers convincing explanations." - David Voas, University of Essex, UK "This is a very important book. The theory of religious-secular competition proposed by the authors is a challenging alternative to former theories of secularization, individualization, and rational choice." - Karel Dobbelaere, University of Leuven, Belgium and Honorary President of the ISSR "Creatively using both quantitative evidence and in-depth interviews, this book will stand as the authoritative account of religion in Switzerland at the beginning of the twenty-first century. But it is more than that. The authors' conceptual map of the Swiss religious landscape helps us think more clearly about religion elsewhere, and their explanation of recent religious trends in Switzerland rings true for other places as well." - Mark Chaves, Duke University, USA "I really liked this book. It is well-written, clear, concise, comprehensive, and based on excellent methodology. (...) This book can serve as a model for how to conduct a comprehensive study of (non)religion in many locations around the world." - Ryan T. Cragun, The University of Tampa "While many sociologists of religion use the ideas of competition and a spiritual marketplace to explain the growth of religion, Stolz and colleagues use "market theory" to explain what they see as the growing secularization of society." ReligionWatch, December 2016

Jrg Stolz is Professor of Sociology of Religion at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Substantively, he works on the description and explanation of different forms of religiosity, evangelicalism, secularization, and comparison of religious groups across religious traditions. Judith Knemann is Professor of Practical Theology in the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Mnster, Germany. She works on the description and explanation of various forms of individual religiosity, and religion in the public sphere. Mallory Schneuwly Purdie holds a PhD in Sociology of Religion and Applied Study of Religion. She is a researcher at the Institute for the Social Sciences of Religions at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Thomas Englberger has worked on the description of religiosity in Switzerland, especially on Roman Catholicism, and on the pluralisation of values and religiosity. Michael Krggeler, PhD, is a sociologist of religion who has worked both quantitatively and qualitatively on the secularization and individualization of religion.

Preface; Introduction: religion and spirituality in the me-society, Jrg Stolz and Judith Knemann; A theory of religious-secular competition, Jrg Stolz and Judith Knemann; Four forms of (un)belief, Jrg Stolz and Mallory Schneuwly-Purdie; Identity and social structure, Jrg Stolz and Mallory Schneuwly-Purdie; Belief, knowledge, experience, action, Mallory Schneuwly Purdie and Jrg Stolz; Values and change of values, Jrg Stolz and Thomas Englberger; Major churches, evangelical churches and alternative-spiritual suppliers, Jrg Stolz and Thomas Englberger; The perception and evaluation of religion(s), Jrg Stolz and Thomas Englberger; The change in religiosity, spirituality and secularity, Jrg Stolz, Thomas Englberger, Michael Krggeler, Judith Knemann and Mallory Schneuwly Purdie; Conclusion: (un)believing in modern society, Jrg Stolz and Judith Knemann; Appendix;