Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Sociology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (3)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chambers, P.
Right arrow Articles by Thompson, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Public Religion and Political Change in Wales

Paul Chambers

University of Glamorgan, pchamber{at}glam.ac.uk

Andrew Thompson

University of Glamorgan, athompso{at}glam.ac.uk

This article examines the experiences of a range of faith groups in Wales drawn from 40 interviews with these groups and related organizations. The principal aim of the project from which the data are drawn was to study experiences of change within the religious sphere in Wales, most notably changes brought about by the process of devolution since 1999. The article has three main concerns. First, drawing on Casanova’s idea of a ‘public religion’, we examine the public roles of faith groups, from the local level through to engagement with politicians in the National Assembly for Wales, and how, especially among Christian denominations, such roles are understood as of growing importance against a backdrop of declining church attendance. Second, we consider the attitudes of faith group representatives towards devolution and the Assembly, highlighting how to date Christian faith groups have been better placed to adapt to political change, for a variety of reasons. Leading on from this, we explore the factors that facilitate and limit engagement of faith groups with the Assembly.

Key Words: civil society • devolution • public religion • secularization • Wales

Sociology, Vol. 39, No. 1, 29-46 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0038038505048999
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 History of the Human SciencesHome page
J. D. Brewer
Sociology and theology reconsidered: religious sociology and the sociology of religion in Britain
History of the Human Sciences, May 1, 2007; 20(2): 7 - 28.
[Abstract] [PDF]