Spiritual Capital

Michael O’Sullivan is Director of the MA in Applied Christian Spirituality and Co-Director of the inter-institutional Spiritual Capital Ireland Centre between All Hallows College and Waterford Institute of Technology.Bernadette Flanagan is Director of Research at All Hallows College, Dublin City University and Co-Director of the inter-institutional Spiritual Capital Ireland Centre between All Hallows College and Waterford Institute of Technology.

'This book offers a fascinating survey of the concept of "spiritual capital" - a recent extension of "social capital". The language is still relatively unfamiliar to spirituality scholars so these essays provide an original and invaluable contribution that bridges the gap between social discourse and academic spirituality.' Philip Sheldrake, Cambridge Theological Federation, UK 'A long-overdue complement to books focusing on the business side, this book masterfully develops the spiritual side of the spiritual capital literature.' Margaret Benefiel, Ph.D., author of Soul at Work and The Soul of a Leader 'Spiritual Capital will quickly become a key text in an expanding field in applied spirituality. The authors explore a range of experiential spaces where spiritual beliefs and practices prove their social worth, and contextually distil pivotal ideas across the field. Note the importance given to symbolic systems and spiritual competencies and the grounding role played by the praxis of authenticity. The text is socially astute and intellectually persuasive, and fills a real gap in the academic literature.' Jack Finnegan, author of The Audacity of Spirit 'This book defines, refines and disseminates the concept of spiritual capital. Contributions by practitioner-scholars in applied spirituality who have practical experience of spiritual capital at work in diverse human situations, provide accounts of concrete expressions of spiritual capital and create an interdisciplinary discussion between spirituality practitioners, artists, ecologists, sociologists and others on the frontiers of change in contemporary culture.' Studies in Spiritualities 'This book is brimming with useful information on a rather elusive topic. The editors should be proud of this helpful and illuminating contribution to the field of spiritual capital.' The Way 'The chapters on practices are the strongest in the volume. I was struck by the appreciation for pilgrimage, its history, and the sense that it is an untapped reservoir to discover spiritual heritage. I had low expectations for a piece on gardening, but it surprised me with its depth and scholarship. Indeed, gardening can definitely be considered "a way of developing a rooted, natural, organic spirituality." It provides a worthy metaphor for spiritual capital. So too, do the lively pieces on poems and song.' Theodore Roosevelt Malloch, Yale University, USA in Spiritus

• List of Figures, List of Contributors, Acknowledgements, Introduction, 1 Exploring Spiritual Capital: Resource for an Uncertain Future?, 2 A Secular Response to Social Solidarity?: Social Capital, Religion and the Implications for Social Policy, 3 Spiritual Capital and the Turn to Spirituality, 4 T he Ecological Crisis and Spiritual Capital, 5 Frederick Ozanam’s Spiritual Capital and Today’s Consumer Society, 6 Spiritual Capital in a Competitive Workplace, 7 Faith-Based Organisations and the Work of International Development, 8 T he Spiritual Dimension to Bereavement through Suicide, 9 Spiritual Capital at Work in the Shadows, 10 Pilgrimage and Spiritual Capital, 11 Gardening as a Source of Spiritual Capital, 12 Poem-Making, Creativity and Meditative Practice, 13 Leonard Cohen, Spiritual Capital and Postmodern Seekers, Index