New material this edition copyright © 2015 by Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, New Jersey. Copyright © 2000 by Walter de Gruyter, Inc., New York Originally published as Manuale di sociologia delta religione Copyright © 1997 Edizioni Borla s.r.l. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmit- ted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to Transaction Publishers, 10 Corporate Place South, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854. www.transactionpub.com This book is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials. Library of Congress Catalog Number: 2014035454 ISBN: 978-1-4128-5467-2 Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cipriani, Roberto. [Manuale di sociologia della religione. English] Sociology of religion: an historical introduction / Roberto Cipriani; translated by Laura Ferrarotti; with a new introduction by Howard G. Schneiderman. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4128-5467-2 1. Religion and sociology. I. Title BL60.C5613 2015 306.6--dc23 2014035454 Contents List of Tables vii About the Author ix Introduction to the Transaction Edition: Ideology, Social Constructionism, and the Sociology of Religion by Howard Schneiderman xi Preface to the English Edition xxv The Sociological Definition of Religion 1 Part I The Origins 1 The Historical-Philosophical Background 13 2 August Comte (1798–1857): The Universal Religion 29 3 Tocqueville (1805–1859): Religion and Democracy 35 4 Bergson (1859–1941): Religion and “Élan Vital” 39 5 The Contribution of Anthropology 45 Part II The Classics 1 Durkheim (1858–1917): Religious Forms 69 2 Weber (1864–1920): Universal Religions 81 3 Simmel (1858–1918): Religiosity and Religion 95 4 Freud (1856–1939): The Psychic Dimension of Religion 101 5 William James (1842–1910): Psychosocial Perspective 111 Part III The Contemporaries 1 Religion as Universal 119 2 The Macrosociological Approach 125 3 The Historical-Cultural Dynamics 131 4 The Frankfurt School and Religion 147 5 The New European Perspectives 151 6 The Socioanthropological Perspectives 163 Part Iv Recent Developments 1 Secularization 179 2 Religious Pluralism 191 3 Robert Bellah (1927–2013): Civil Religion 199 4 North American Trends 205 5 The European Trends 223 6 Niklas Luhmann (1927–1998): Religion as Function 241 7 The New Religious Movements 249 Afterword 255 Bibliography 277 Author Index 293 General Index 297 List of Tables Synoptic Table 1: From Vico to Mauss 66 Synoptic Table 2: From Durkheim to James 116 Synoptic Table 3: From Lévy-Bruhl to Sorokin 130 Synoptic Table 4: From Troeltsch to de Martino 146 Synoptic Table 5: From the Frankfurt School to Douglas 175 Synoptic Table 6: From Acquaviva to Wuthnow 221 Synoptic Table 7: From Poulat to Beckford 253 Synoptic Outline: 257 Authors, Influences, Key Concepts, Topics General Synoptic Table 273 Key to the Synoptic Tables 274 Table of the Classics 275 Table of the Contemporaries 276 About the Author Roberto Cipriani is professor of sociology at the University of Rome, Italy. He has served as a visiting professor at the University of Sad Paolo in Brazil and at Laval University in Quebec and has conducted research in Greece and in Mexico. He has also served as editor in chief of International Sociology. This is the first of his many books to be translated into English, on subjects ranging from the work of Lévi- Strauss to symbolic legitimation. He has also made documentary films based on his varied research. ix