The Sacred in the Modern World

• Provides a clear theoretical framework for defining and studying the sacred across the disciplines
• Provides thorough grounding in debates about the definition of the sacred
• Introduces ideas from cultural sociology to religious studies
• Makes effective use of sacred to make sense of recent major social conflicts and scandals
• Demonstrates the importance of the Media for the 'contemporary sacred'

Readership: Students and scholars of the sociology of religion; of religious studies; of human geography; of cultural studies; of anthropology.

Gordon Lynch, Michael Ramsey Professor of Modern Theology, University of Kent

"a lucid reconsideration of the concept of "the sacred", a term that has a rich vernacular life as well as a well-honed technical usage." - Bernice Martin, Times Literary Supplement

Introduction: Why do we need a sociology of the sacred?
1: Ontological and Durkheimian theories of the sacred
2: After Durkheim: the development of a cultural sociology of the sacred
3: Dominant and subjugated sacred forms: interpreting the systemic abuse and neglect of children in the Irish Industrial School system
4: The mediatization of the sacred: the BBC, Gaza and the DEC appeal
5: Living with the light and shadow of the sacred
Conclusion