Studying Religion and Society: Sociological Self-Portraits

by Titus Hjelm (Editor)

How do you study religion and society? In this fascinating book, some of the most famous names in the field explain how they go about their everyday work of studying religions in the field. They explain how the ideas for their projects and books have come together, how their understanding of religion has changed over the years, and how their own beliefs have affected their work. They also comment on the changing nature of the field, the ideas which they regard as most important, and those which have not stood the test of time. Lastly they offer advice to young scholars, and suggest what needs to be done to enable the field to grow and develop further.

220 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 11, 2012

About the author

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I have been meaning to leave Amazon and its affiliates for a while now, but 20 January 2025 really cemented that decision. Thank you for the comments and likes. The story continues at StoryGraph!

I am Professor in the Study of Religion at the University of Helsinki, Finland. Previously I was a Reader in Sociology at UCL, UK. In addition I'm a (semi)professional metal and blues musician.

In addition to writing the books below, and many scholarly articles, I have served as co-editor of the Journal of Religion in Europe (2011-2022) and Editor in Chief of Sociology of Religion (2023-)

Readingwise, when I'm not reading scholarly stuff, I divide my time between 'serious' fiction (Vasily Grossman and Olga Tokarczuk come to mind as recent highlights) and Fantasy/Horror (Stephen King, always). I guess studying the real world makes me want to escape it when reading fiction. On the other hand, a good novel can tell us much more about the real world than the best sociological work.