Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
Summary
Religion is one of the strongest and most persistent correlates of social and economic inequalities. Early theorists recognized the importance of the religion–inequality link and introduced important theoretical ideas that continue to guide research in this area (Durkheim [1912] 1954; Sombart 1911; Weber [1905] 1930). Yet, because the religious environment and the processes that underlie inequality in the United States have changed dramatically since Weber and his contemporaries developed their ideas, many current patterns are beyond the scope of these early works. For example, early theorists could not have anticipated the proliferation of Protestant denominations, the changing nature of global Catholicism, the increased presence of other religious traditions, or the growing importance of new immigrant groups with unique religious practices and identities. It has also become evident that the relationship between religion and inequality is no longer a function of large-scale shifts in control over the means of production, but rather reflects changing individual and group approaches to human capital acquisition, family formation and fertility, work and occupational advancement, entrepreneurship, saving, and investing. In the 1960s, researchers revived questions about religion and inequality and began to address the issues that matter for understanding contemporary stratification patterns. Unfortunately, that research lost momentum when debates about socioeconomic status (SES) convergence between mainline Protestants (MPs) and Catholics came to dominate the literature and data and methods were inadequate to adjudicate among competing arguments (Glenn and Hyland 1967; Lenski 1961; Roof and McKinney 1987).
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- Information
- Religion and Inequality in AmericaResearch and Theory on Religion's Role in Stratification, pp. 1 - 28Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014
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