Beckford, James A. (2015) 'Community' in the sociology of religion : the case of Britain. Social Compass, Volume 62 (Number 2). pp. 225-237. doi:10.1177/0037768615571692 ISSN 0037-7686.

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Abstract

The author’s aim is to offer some critical observations on usage of the terms ‘community’ and ‘faith community’. The central argument is that ‘community’ is a weasel word that occurs frequently in discourses at the levels of everyday life, public policy-making, welfare services and social scientific analysis. The article begins by reviewing relatively uncontentious uses of ‘community’. The second section of the article analyses the UK government’s usage of the term ‘faith community’ in policy documents since 1997. And the third section explores two particularly problematic issues: on the one hand a tension that arises within official discourses about faith communities and, on the other, the UK government’s practice of treating faith communities as if they were undifferentiated collectivities. The conclusion urges sociologists of religion to avoid uncritically reproducing official discourses about faith communities.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Journal or Publication Title:	Social Compass
Publisher:	Sage Publications Ltd.
ISSN:	0037-7686
Official Date:	June 2015
Dates:	Date Event June 2015 Published
Volume:	Volume 62
Number:	Number 2
Page Range:	pp. 225-237
DOI:	10.1177/0037768615571692
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access

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