Religious America, Secular Europe?: A Theme and Variations

by Peter L. Berger, Grace Davie, Effie Fokas

Europe is a relatively secular part of the world in global terms. Why is this so? And why is the situation in Europe so different from that in the United States? The first chapter of this book - the theme - articulates this contrast. The remaining chapters - the variations - look in turn at the historical, philosophical, institutional and sociological dimensions of these differences. Key ideas are examined in detail, among them: constitutional issues; the Enlightenment; systems of law, education and welfare; questions of class, ethnicity, gender and generation. In each chapter both the similarities and differences between the European and the American cases are carefully scrutinized. The final chapter explores the ways in which these features translate into policy on both sides of the Atlantic. This book is highly topical and relates very directly to current misunderstandings between Europe and America.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, History

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Peter L. Berger was an internationally renowned sociologist, and the founder of Boston University's Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs. He was born in Vienna and came to the U.S. in his late teens. He had a master's degree and a doctorate from the New School for Social Research in New York. After two years in the United States Army, he taught at the University of Georgia and the University of North Carolina before going to the Hartford Seminary Foundation as an Assistant Professor in Social Ethics.

In 1992, Peter Berger was awarded the Manes Sperber Prize, presented by the Austrian government for significant contributions to culture. He was the author of many books, among them The Social Construction of Reality, The Homeless Mind, and Questions of Faith.

Reviews

[Titus Hjelm · Rating 2 out of 5]

As an admirer of Berger's early work, I've been reading everything by him until today, despite the increasingly acerbic conservatism of his work. The two other authors being colleagues, this was a must read. Despite the promising premise, the book is disappointing. The diatribe against secular social scientists who just can't seem to get anything right gets tiresome very quickly. The eagerness of some of the authors to bring back religion into the public sphere translates into implicit support for neoliberal policies for dismantling the welfare state and, consequently, welfare and social equality. For an author who never forgets to remind his readers that social science is neutral a la Weber, Berger (and Davie) have written a massively political text. The treatment of 'Eurabia'--the concept forged in racist and fascist forums--is hardly treated as the far-right construction it is, but with a worrying overtone about the birth rate of immigrant Muslims. The chapters by Effie Fokas offer the only respite. It's not that there aren't some good insights here, but they are hardly original, and have to be filtered from the political bias.

[Samuel Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather interesting book that tackles the notions of whether or not Europe is secular or America is religious. It delves into the histories, cultural traditions (and changes of culture), differences of religion in the social sphere, and policy implications of both in terms of foreign and domestic. Since it was written at the end of Bush's term, there are some elements of that time that still resonate today, as well as some indicators of a shift, both slowly and rapidly that have occurred today or possibly occur in the near future. I would hope that there is a sequel in the near future with the influential changes that have occurred domestically and internationally in both the U.S. and Europe.