The emergence of spirituality in contemporary culture in holistic forms suggests that organised religions have failed. This thesis is explored and disputed in this book in ways that mark important critical divisions. This is the first collection of essays to assess the significance of spirituality in the sociology of religion. The authors explore the relationship of spirituality to the visual, individualism, gender, identity politics, education and cultural capital. The relationship between secularisation and spirituality is examined and consideration is given to the significance of Simmel in relation to a sociology of spirituality. Problems of defining spirituality are debated with reference to its expression in the UK, the USA, France and Holland. This timely, original and well structured volume provides undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers with a scholarly appraisal of a phenomenon that can only increase in sociological significance.

Contents: Introduction, Kieran Flanagan; Spirituality: some disciplinary perspectives, Peter R. Holmes; The Spiritual Revolution: Another False Dawn for the Sacred, David Voas and Steve Bruce; The holistic milieu and spirituality: reflections on Voas and Bruce, Paul Heelas; Beyond secularisation versus sacralisation: lessons from a study of the Dutch case, André Droogers; Spirituality on the margin of the Church: Christian spiritual centres in The Netherlands, Peter Versteeg; Why so many women in holistic spirituality? A puzzle revisited, Linda Woodhead; Contentious headscarves: spirituality and the state in the 21st century, Paul Chambers; Georg Simmel: religion and spirituality, Ivan Varga; Spirituality: from a religious concept to a sociological theory, Giuseppe Giordan; In search of spiritual capital: the spiritual as a cultural resource, Mathew Guest; The embodied spirituality of the post-boomer generations, Richard W. Flory and Donald E. Miller; Visual spirituality: an eye for religion, Kieran Flanagan; Conclusion, Kieran Flanagan and Peter C. Jupp; Index.