Work in Progress Toward a New Paradigm for the Sociological Study of Religion in the United States

This article reviews recent literature on U.S. religious institutions and argues that a new paradigm is emerging in that field, the crux of which is that organized religion thrives in the United States in an open market system, an observation anomalous to the older paradigm's monopoly concept....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American journal of sociology 1993-03, Vol.98 (5), p.1044-1093
Main Author: Warner, R. Stephen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Buddhism
Catholicism
Christianity
Churches
Cultural Influences
Educational History
Higher Education
Historiography
Islam
Judaism
Paradigms
Protestantism
Religion
Religion Studies
Religions
Religious Cultural Groups
Research Needs
Secularization
Social Behavior
Social History
Social Influences
Social research
Sociocultural Patterns
Sociology
Sociology of Religion
U.S.A
United States
United States History
United States of America
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Description
Summary:This article reviews recent literature on U.S. religious institutions and argues that a new paradigm is emerging in that field, the crux of which is that organized religion thrives in the United States in an open market system, an observation anomalous to the older paradigm's monopoly concept. The article has six sections: first, a brief survey of the paradigm crisis; second, a development of the concept of an open market in the historiography and sociology of U.S. religion; third, fourth, and fifth, arguments that U.S. religious institutions are constitutively pluralistic, structurally adaptable, and empowering; sixth, a consideration of recent religious individualism in the light of the new paradigm. A conclusion sketches some research implications.
ISSN:0002-9602
1537-5390
DOI:10.1086/230139