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Religion in Britain Since 1945: Believing Without Belonging
This work aims to do two to describe as accurately as possible the religious situation of Britain at the end of the 20th century; and to evaluate this evidence within a sociological framework. Two themes emerge. The first concerns the growing mismatch between indices of religious belief in this country, which remain relatively high, and statistics which reflect either religious membership (in its strict sense) or religious practice, both of which demonstrate a marked decline in the post-war period. The second theme concerns the European framework within which the book is set. As Britain moves to a greater European identity, the considerable variety of religious cultures within the United Kingdom take on a new significance.
226 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 12, 2026
In this book, Davie frames what is the now-classic “believing without belonging” thesis. Her core claim is that post-war Britain has seen declining institutional Christian participation (falling church attendance, membership and vocations) alongside a more persistent, but diffuse layer of religious belief, identity and practice that remains culturally and morally significant even when not mediated through regular congregational life.
Davie couples this with a nuanced engagement with secularisation theory, arguing that Britain exemplifies a distinctive European pattern in which religious institutions lose social power while religion maintains a residual presence in public ritual, media, as well as privately held belief.
The book frames some conceptual vocabulary, talking about "unattached" or "vicarious", and it also synthesises data to make its points. It is a sociological work that takes the data seriously and attempts to follow where the data leads but avoids the temptation to find causation where there is only correlation.
At the same time, both the book and the "believing without belonging" formula have attracted criticism and subsequent revision, I believe. Quantitatively, some have argued that Davie underestimates the long-term decline of both belief and belonging, pointing to later survey evidence for the growth of self-described non-religion and “no belief” positions that make "believing" itself look more fragile than her formulation implies.
Others suggest the thesis over-privileges Christianity and the historic churches, giving less attention to non-Christian faiths and to forms of spirituality and secularity that do not fit a residual Christian cultural frame. Davie herself has modified and supplemented the idea with the notion of "vicarious religion," emphasising that an active religious minority can perform rituals and sustain moral frameworks on behalf of a much larger, more ambivalent public, and acknowledging that belief and belonging can vary and be understood in different ways.
All in all, however, this is another important work in the secularisation jigsaw, and it is a must read on that score, just for being the work that frames the velieveing without belonging debate.
Davie couples this with a nuanced engagement with secularisation theory, arguing that Britain exemplifies a distinctive European pattern in which religious institutions lose social power while religion maintains a residual presence in public ritual, media, as well as privately held belief.
The book frames some conceptual vocabulary, talking about "unattached" or "vicarious", and it also synthesises data to make its points. It is a sociological work that takes the data seriously and attempts to follow where the data leads but avoids the temptation to find causation where there is only correlation.
At the same time, both the book and the "believing without belonging" formula have attracted criticism and subsequent revision, I believe. Quantitatively, some have argued that Davie underestimates the long-term decline of both belief and belonging, pointing to later survey evidence for the growth of self-described non-religion and “no belief” positions that make "believing" itself look more fragile than her formulation implies.
Others suggest the thesis over-privileges Christianity and the historic churches, giving less attention to non-Christian faiths and to forms of spirituality and secularity that do not fit a residual Christian cultural frame. Davie herself has modified and supplemented the idea with the notion of "vicarious religion," emphasising that an active religious minority can perform rituals and sustain moral frameworks on behalf of a much larger, more ambivalent public, and acknowledging that belief and belonging can vary and be understood in different ways.
All in all, however, this is another important work in the secularisation jigsaw, and it is a must read on that score, just for being the work that frames the velieveing without belonging debate.
April 1, 2014
Grace Davie is a sociologist of religion and a prolific researcher and writer at the University of Exeter. She it was who coined the phrase “believing without belonging” as a way of describing the status of religion, the state of personal religiosity, and the condition of the institutional church in Great Britain. As the title suggests, this book focuses on the extraordinary changes that have taken place in that nation since the World War II. While there are significant differences between G.B. and the U.S., her analysis of religion from a sociological perspective is relevant for those who study the religion, religiosity and the health of Christian institutions in this country.
May 2, 2026
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2.5 Stars
Feelings about the book:
- Part of a series called Making Contemporary Britain. All the books in this series focus on a central theme.
Premise/Plot:
- Davie analyses a few things in this book relation to religion in 20th century Britain: the decline of religious institutions, changing social structures and why people believe ven with declining church attendance.
Themes:
- Changes in 20th century society, the evolution of religious institutions, secularism, cultural Christianity, modernity and more.
Pros:
- Very good research and data used to analyse religion in Britain.
- Davie was fair in her analysis; I couldn’t tell what her personal leanings were and that’s a good sign.
- The bibliography was decent.
Cons:
- A tad dry and not the most engaging, but I guess that is life. It was on the drier-straight-to-the-point side of things, but it wasn’t a chore to read.
- I would have liked to see a deep breakdown of the differences between the religions in Britain. Just to theorise whether it was something in practice that was causing decline etc.
- Understates the complexity and history of belief in minority communities.
Quotes:
‘Indeed most people in this country – whatever their denominational allegiance – express their religious sentiments by staying away from, rather than going to, their place of worship.’
‘More particularly, the 1950s were an Anglican decade, in which the social role of the church was confirmatory rather than confrontational.’
‘Figures for infant baptism, for example, an indicator which gives at least some measurement of Anglican penetration into society at large, reveal a pretty constant downward curve from 1950 on.’
‘There were exceptions, but for the most part the black population – whatever its provenance – was not made welcome by the mainline denominations of this country, a situation regrettable from many points of view.’
‘In contrast [to Christian nominalism], secularism – at least in any developed sense – remains the creed of a relatively small minority.’
‘A 1988 poll (The Times, 14 November 1988) revealed that 63 per cent of active churchgoers voted Conservative in the 1987 General Election, as opposed to 43 per cent of the population as a whole.’
‘In other words, those Christian groups whose religious professionals are normally termed ‘ministers’ rather than ‘priests’ do not seem to have found the inclusion of women in their professional ministries all that problematic.’
‘Indeed I would argue that the combination of believing without belonging is better understood as the residue of former, pre-industrial patterns of religious organisations than it is as a fragmented or consciously post-modern form of religious activity.’
2.5 Stars
Feelings about the book:
- Part of a series called Making Contemporary Britain. All the books in this series focus on a central theme.
Premise/Plot:
- Davie analyses a few things in this book relation to religion in 20th century Britain: the decline of religious institutions, changing social structures and why people believe ven with declining church attendance.
Themes:
- Changes in 20th century society, the evolution of religious institutions, secularism, cultural Christianity, modernity and more.
Pros:
- Very good research and data used to analyse religion in Britain.
- Davie was fair in her analysis; I couldn’t tell what her personal leanings were and that’s a good sign.
- The bibliography was decent.
Cons:
- A tad dry and not the most engaging, but I guess that is life. It was on the drier-straight-to-the-point side of things, but it wasn’t a chore to read.
- I would have liked to see a deep breakdown of the differences between the religions in Britain. Just to theorise whether it was something in practice that was causing decline etc.
- Understates the complexity and history of belief in minority communities.
Quotes:
‘Indeed most people in this country – whatever their denominational allegiance – express their religious sentiments by staying away from, rather than going to, their place of worship.’
‘More particularly, the 1950s were an Anglican decade, in which the social role of the church was confirmatory rather than confrontational.’
‘Figures for infant baptism, for example, an indicator which gives at least some measurement of Anglican penetration into society at large, reveal a pretty constant downward curve from 1950 on.’
‘There were exceptions, but for the most part the black population – whatever its provenance – was not made welcome by the mainline denominations of this country, a situation regrettable from many points of view.’
‘In contrast [to Christian nominalism], secularism – at least in any developed sense – remains the creed of a relatively small minority.’
‘A 1988 poll (The Times, 14 November 1988) revealed that 63 per cent of active churchgoers voted Conservative in the 1987 General Election, as opposed to 43 per cent of the population as a whole.’
‘In other words, those Christian groups whose religious professionals are normally termed ‘ministers’ rather than ‘priests’ do not seem to have found the inclusion of women in their professional ministries all that problematic.’
‘Indeed I would argue that the combination of believing without belonging is better understood as the residue of former, pre-industrial patterns of religious organisations than it is as a fragmented or consciously post-modern form of religious activity.’
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews