Social Forms of Religion

Social forms of religion – the ways in which individuals and groups coordinate religious practice – produce community at the same time as they enable individual religious experiences. A mix of group, organization, market exchange, network, event, and/or other forms characterizes different traditions. Shifts in dominant social forms within a religious tradition are catalysts and expressions of religious transformation alike. The contributions to the volume test this argument by presenting Catholic, Protestant, Charismatic/Pentecostal, Orthodox, and Mormon case studies from Europe and the Americas.

Maren Freudenberg, born in 1983, is a sociologist of religion at the Center for Religious Studies, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany. She obtained her PhD in sociology at Freie Universität Berlin, where she was a member of the Graduate School of North American Studies. Her research focuses on contemporary religion in the United States, global charismatic Christianity, the connections between religion and the economy, and theoretical approaches in the sociology of religion.

Astrid Reuter, born in 1968, is a professor for religious studies at Universität Münster and principal investigator at the Cluster of Excellence Religion & Politics. Her main research areas are the history and theory of religious studies, religion and law in Europe, Charismatic Catholicism and African Religions in Latin America (with special focus on Brazil).