Phil Zuckerman

The Sociology of Religion of W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) wrote a significant amount on religion from a penetrating sociological perspective. He should be considered the first American sociologist of religion. This article calls attention to Du Bois as a founding sociologist of religion and summarizes his major scholarly contributions. His work in the sociology of religion is characterized by 1) a reliance upon standard and diverse sociological methods in generating data; 2) a focus on the religious life of African Americans, and 3) pioneering special attention to the this-worldly, communal, specifically social rewards which religious affiliation provides

Deviant Heroes: Nonconformists as Agents of Justice and Social Change

Sociologists usually define deviance as a fluid construct, relative to given social circumstances, and something that is neither negative nor positive in and of itself. Despite the rejection of absolutist approaches, the vast majority of texts and studies concerning deviant behavior implicitly or explicitly present deviance as either a morally bad or morally neutral behavior. Such literatures wrongly conflate deviant behavior with villainous actions. We argue that some of the most important deviants have been at the leading forefront of positive social change and the creation of a more just, fair, and humane society. Deviant heroes are those individuals who violate unjust norms and laws, facing the repercussions of social control, while simultaneously effecting positive social change. This article considers the theoretical role of the deviant hero within classical and contemporary sociological traditions and identifies new directions for social research.

Gender regulation as a source of religious schism

This paper adds to the growing body of literature concerned with the connection between gender issues and religious conflict by reporting a case of religious schism in which issues surrounding gender regulation were at the center of the struggle. For decades there had only been one synagogue in Northweston, Washington. However, in the early 1990s, this congregation experienced in-fighting and a complete schismatic rift, largely over issues involving womens role and status within the synagogue. Based upon data collected through participant observation and in-depth interviews with 29 informants, this paper explores the importance gender regulation plays in contemporary religious life, and describes the potential for controversy and division when issues of gender regulation are faced by American Jewish communities. This paper explores a case of religious schism in which a struggle over gender

Ye of Little Faith

Despite the proclamations of Republican senators, there are more secular Americans now then ever before; sociologist Phil Zuckerman argues that their growth warrants greater attention to secularity on the part of social science.

Handbook of the Sociology of ReligionHandbook of the Sociology of Religion, edited by DillonMichele. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 481 pp.

Kingdom, entertainment conglomerates are buying up traditional pubs and other sites of “residual” community nightlife and converting them to branded theme pubs aimed at an upscale professional market. Alternative venues are marginalized in less desirable locations. Cash-starved local governments hoping to use high-end entertainment centers to revitalize inner-city districts become complicit in this process of leisure gentrification by favoring large entertainment corporations over traditional or alternative venues. At the same time “security-obsessed” local governments heavily police nightlife areas, a process that also favors corporate giants over small pubs and alternative clubs catering to a “rougher” clientele. While this general thesis is convincing, the critique of the branded, mainstream leisure culture relies on a contrast with an “alternative” scene in which more authentic forms of consumption, sociability, and anti-mainstream resistance are possible. Here the distinctions are less convincing. Like the earlier youth cultural studies literature, the authors seem to be searching for social and political commitments in activities where youth simply are looking for fun. In describing the alternative scene, the authors explicitly focus on more politicized movements that define themselves as consciously opposed to the mainstream, including such activities as squatting that seem hardly representative of nightlife activities. In more obvious cases, such as dance clubs, the distinctions between mainstream and alternative forms of clubbing seem to represent more taste and fashion dynamics rather than a fundamental difference in social commitments or community involvement. Unavoidably, given its comprehensive focus, the organization of the volume around the categories of mainstream, residual, and alternative spaces allow only for brief discussions of each type of space. Although the authors conducted interviews with youth and with nightlife producers, these voices are often downplayed in favor of exhaustive reviews of the theoretical literature. While text-boxes providing ethnographic descriptions are informative, one sometimes wishes for more ethnographic detail and less literature review. The reader who is not personally familiar with the nightlife scene is thus left wondering what people actually do in these spaces. We receive the general impression that youth go to residual and alternative nightlife places for genuine companionship and authentic cultural expression, while they venture into mainstream nightlife only to get drunk and pursue casual sexual encounters. In particular, heterosexual interactions in mainstream venues are glossed over as hedonistic and superficial, providing little insight into how young men and women actually interact with one another in mainstream nightlife venues. Sociologists planning research on urban nightlife should find this clearly written and well-produced volume a helpful resource. Numerous illustrations and highlighted text boxes make this an accessible text even for undergraduates, but it will also be an excellent reference for experienced researchers. Finally, the focus on a single country, though understandable, leaves largely untested a central claim that corporate nightlife is restricting leisure possibilities for youth worldwide through a global process of mainstreaming and branding. More comparative studies of nightlife using Chatterton and Hollands’ methodology could develop and test this argument about the globalization of entertainment industries.