Faith-Based Organizations and Social Welfare: Associational Life and Religion in Contemporary Western Europe

Author: Paul Manuel

May 24, 2018

Paul Manuel and Miguel Glatzer's edited book Faith-Based Organizations and Social Welfare: Associational Life and Religion in Contemporary Western Europe, published by Palgrave MacMillan, challenges the notion that declining rates of formal participation in religious life have made faith-based organizations irrelevant for Western European civil society. This volume examines the role and function of religious-based organizations in strengthening associational life in a representative sample of West European countries: newly democratized and long established democracies, societies with and without a dominant religious tradition, and welfare states with different levels and types of social services. It asks how faith-based organizations, in a time of economic crisis, and with declining numbers of adherents, might contribute to the deepening of democracy. Throughout, the volume invites social scientists to consider the ongoing role of faith-based organizations in Western European civil society and investigates whether the concept of muted vibrancy aids our theoretical understanding.

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