British Sociological Association

Religion and Social Theory:
Developing a New Agenda
for the Sociology of Religion

Woodbrooke Conference Centre, Birmingham
April 11-13, 2011

An engagement with sociological theory holds great promise for the study of religion. The founders of sociological thought gave a great deal of attention to the questions of religion in modernity; after this golden age for the sociology of religion, mainstream sociology and sociological theorising seemed to lose interest in these questions. Of late, religion seems to be back on the agenda, although often such reflections are not well informed by the kinds of substantive expertise that sociologists of religion are able to offer. This presents sociologists of religion with real opportunities to engage in new ways with the core of the sociological enterprise. This conference will begin to develop a new agenda for sociology of religion and its engagement with social theory, both in its more abstract and concrete empirical forms. As such, the conference aims to promote an engagement with theory-which by no means suggests a wish to neglect empirical concern.

SOCREL is the British Sociological Association's study group on religion (www.socrel.org.uk).
If you have any queries about the conference, please do not hesitate to contact the organisers: gillian.rae@britsoc.org.uk telephone: + 44 (0) 191 383 0839  
Andrew McKinnon (andrew.mckinnon@abdn.ac.uk) or
Marta Trzebiatowska ( m.k.trzebiatowska@abdn.ac.uk).