This handsome book... is particularly welcome and should find a place in every well-stocked library, both academic and other... I particularly like the mix of experienced and younger scholars who have been brought together in this volume and applaud the successful attempt to escape from a study of religion informed by Western, primarily Christian, notions of religion. A further question follows from this. Seriously confronting the realities of religion in the twenty-first century makes new demands on social science, which itself emerged from a similar (i.e., Western) context. To what extent, then, can these demands be met within the parameters of the sociology of religion as we know this? Peter Clarke's meticulously edited volume not only underlines the question, but indicates a way forward. He is to be warmly congratulated.
Grace Davie, Theology
The contributors of these chapters have been chosen from an impressive pool of top international academics in the field. Not only has the editor done a great job in finding leading academics to write on the most topical issues, but also all the contributors have written a very informative piece, using the most recent data and theories. All the chapters are a delight to read...This is an impressive volume that will delight the student as much as the erudite in the field. All the academic libraries should order this volume as it will soon become an essential reference to any subject in the sociology of religion. It is a must for anyone who calls himself/herself a sociologist of religion to have a copy of this book on his/her bookshels.
Adam Possamai, Australian Religion Studies Review