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It can be said that history is poor sociology that does not account sufficiently for present social circumstances, while sociology is bad history in that it does not go back in time. This volume in the Religion and Social Order series sets out to address these conjoint problems of history and sociology within the disciplinary boundaries of the sociology of religion. History has such a fickle nature that it has seen religion hold varied and different places within the timeline of sociological thought. Religion had a high level of importance among the early founders of sociology. A perceived decline of significance for religion by sociology in the latter half of the twentieth century mirrored the changing social location of religion. The increase in world fundamentalisms, religious movements, private spiritualities and other indicators in the millennial age have brought a renaissance to this longstanding subdiscipline and shown that religion is far from extinction.
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History, Time, Meaning, and Memory Religion and the Social Order An Official Publication of the Association for the Sociology of Religion General Editor William H. Swatos, Jr. VOLUME 20 History, Time, Meaning, and Memory Ideas for the Sociology of Religion Edited by Barbara Jones Denison LEIDEN • BOSTON LEIDEN • BOSTON 2011 This book is printed on acid-free paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Denison, Barbara J. â•… History, time, meaning, and memory : ideas for the sociology of religion / edited by Barbara Jones Denison. â•…â•… p. cm. -- (Religion and the social order, ISSN 1061-5210; v. 20) â•… Includes bibliographical references. â•… ISBN 978-90-04-21062-2 (hardback : alk. paper) â•… 1. Religion and sociology. 2. History--Social aspects. I. Title. â•… BL60.D46 2011 â•…306.6--dc23 2011018900 ISSN 1061-5210 ISBN 978 90 04 21062 2 Copyright 2011 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Global Oriental, Hotei Publishing, IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. Contents Preface: Traveling Through Time ����������������������������������尓������������������������� vii William H. Swatos, jr. Introduction: History, Time, Meaning, and Memory in the Sociology of Religion ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�������1 Barbara Jones Denison 1.╇ Clio Goes to Church—Again: Places for History in the Sociology of Religion ����������������������������������尓������������������������������������尓�������9 Kevin J. Christiano 2.╇ The History of Meaning ����������������������������������尓����������������������������������� 47 William H. Swatos, jr. 3.╇ H