Encyclopedia of Religions and Society By William H. Swatos, Jr (ed). SAGE and AltaMira Press, 1998, xiv + 590 pp.

Abstract

The Encyclopedia ofReligion and Society can be regarded as the fmt substantial
reference work specifically concerned with the sociological study of
religion. Simply by filling this gap in the existing literature, it is a book that
deserves to be widely recognized for making this contribution to the field.
Although Islam and consideration of Islam in relation to the social sciences
makes only a very limited appearance in the volume, this new work needs to
be thoroughly assessed for its value in the social scientific study of Muslim
communities and Islamic societies.
One hundred and nine international experts in the sociology of religion have
contributed to the volume. Reflecting the development of the discipline, the
encyclopedia has an interdisciplinary character, which makes it a useful
resource not only for sociologists, but also for scholars from anthropology,
psychology, and religious studies. As a reference work in the sociology of religion,
it would be hard to identify any gaps in terms of entries, especially as all
the standard terms and theories are comprehensively covered. Many concepts
more closely associated with mainstream sociology (such as “deviance,” “attitude,”
“research methods”) also carry an entry and their particular relationship
to the sociology of religion is often drawn out. An especially valuable feature
of the work is that there are entries for people and organizations, thereby making
it possible to identify key personalities, publications, and professional societies,
past and present. Through the encyclopedia it is possible to piece together
the academic and institutional development of the discipline. There is a critical
aspect to most of the longer entries, and this evaluative dimension makes
the book a valuable resource for students. ’Ihe varying length of entries, from
just a few sentences to essay-length, appears to be carefully and appropriately
judged. Most entries carry either a short bibliography or references thus assisting
researchers to locate key texts. The helpful and extensive cross-referencing
provides a further pointer to related concepts and terms, whilst the avoidance
of complex technical jargon makes the book accessible to a wide readership,
and those new to the field. The encyclopedia’s very comprehensive and
detailed index will help readers to locate all the occurrences of theories and ...