Religious Change and Continuity Across Generations: Passing on Faith in Families of Six European and North American Nations

Table of Contents:
Foreword, Amy Adamczyk Introduction, Merril Silverstein, Christel Gärtner, and Maria T. Brown Chapter 1: Continuities and Discontinuities in the Transmission of (Non-) Religion: West and East Germany Compared, Christel Gärtner, Linda Hennig, and Olaf Müller Chapter 2: Historical Changes in Childhood Religious Practice in Hungary: Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Data Using a Mixed Methods Approach, Gergely Rosta, Zsuzsanna Szvetelszky, and Virág Sövegjártó Chapter 3: Investigating Italian Religious Socialization Paths: Findings and Lessons from a Mixed-Methods Exercise, Roberta Ricucci, Ferruccio Biolcati, Luca Bossi, Marcello Cabria, Renzo Carriero, and Francesco Molteni Chapter 4: The Complexity of Religious Change across Generations in Finland from the Perspectives of Gender and Religious Biographies, Kati Tervo-Niemelä and Jenni Spännäri Chapter 5: Transmission, Transformation, and Reversal in the Context of Intergenerational Decline of Religiosity in Canada, Peter Beyer and Jacob Legault-Leclair Chapter 6: Intergenerational Evolution of Religiosity and Spirituality in Sexual Minorities in an American Sample, Maria T. Brown, Joseph Blankholm, Dusty Hoesly, Woosang Hwang, RianSimone Harris, and Merril Silverstein Chapter 7: Spiritual Beliefs and Practices of the Non-Religious in an American Context: A Cross-Generational Perspective, Woosang Hwang, Joseph Blankholm, Dusty Hoesly, Maria T. Brown, RianSimone Harris, and Merril Silverstein About the Contributors

About the Author :
Merril Silverstein holds the Marjorie Cantor Chair in Aging Studies at Syracuse University where he is professor in the Departments of Sociology and Human Development and Family Science. Christel Gärtner is a sociologist and mentor at the Graduate School and Cluster of Excellence in “Religion and Politics” at the University of Münster. Maria T. Brown is associate research professor in Syracuse University’s School of Social Work and Aging Studies Institute.

Review :
Passing on religion seems increasingly difficult today, as many young people in both Europe in America leave their parents’ tradition behind. What does successful transmission look like? This book explores and problematizes that question, drawing on original research and thoughtful analysis by top international scholars. We learn that even in the age of the internet, there are still real social, political, and institutional differences between cultures, and we come to see how the story of religious transmission reflects that. We also learn how the very meaning of “religion” has changed over time, which raises interesting questions about the ways we define and measure who is and isn’t religious. Anyone curious about the future of religion should read this book! Reporting on research that is methodologically sophisticated and innovative, this book breaks new ground in the study of the transmission of religion and nonreligion within families in 6 countries. Multinational and interdisciplinary in scope, the volume contributes new insights into the profound religious change in the of the past 50 years. Whether religion persists or declines is rarely a matter of adults deciding that they do or don’t want to go to church. It is a matter of children choosing whether or not to follow in their parents’ footsteps. The transmission of religious identity, belief and practice from one generation to the next is therefore the single most important topic in the study of religious change, and this book reports on two of the most significant investigations of this issue. It will be required reading for anyone trying to understand the erosion of religious involvement in contemporary Western societies.