Family, Religion, and Social Change in Diverse Societies

Family and religion face myriad challenges in the modern age. Many social theorists have thought that these institutions would be greatly weakened or eliminated in the course of modernization. However. this book rejects this orientation and demonstrates that both - no matter how they themselves may be undergoing significant transformations are nevertheless well rooted in societies throughout the world. Religion, in league with family, shows signs of persistence and vitality that do not fit either the secularization thesis or the family thesis. Though the importance of religion and family is manifested in different ways and different contexts, these institutions are important virtually everywhere in fundamental ways and in both the public and private spheres. The fourteen essays in this volume, authored by an international group of scholars in sociology and anthropology, are complex analyses of social change processes occurring within particular societies. Taking an inter-institutional perspective, each explores in a concrete context, the special linkage between religion and family and the interconnections between them and other institutions. The studies include consideration of societies on five continents with coverage of a wide variety of religions and family patterns. This book is ideal for a wide variety of courses, including Sociology of Family and Sociology of Religion on both the upper undergraduate level and the graduate level.