Spiritual Turn - The Religion of the Heart and the Making of Romantic Liberal Modernity

North Americans and Western Europeans increasingly identify as 'spiritual but not religious'. This book combines cultural sociology with intellectual history and political philosophy to examine this 'spiritual turn'.

List of contents

• Part I: The Spiritual Turn


• 1: From 'Religion' to 'Spirituality'


• 2: A Brief History of the Religion of the Heart


• 3: 'Spirituality' Today


• Part II: Romantic Liberal Modernity


• 4: The 1960s and the Rise of Romantic Liberalism


• 5: The Making of Romantic Liberal Modernity


• 6: Mapping the Romantic Liberal Institutional Order


• 7: Romantic Liberal Modernity and Its Critics


• Part III: The Romantic Liberal Subject: An Ethnographic Snapshot


• 8: Moral Reform and Shifting Involvements at a Twelve-Step Group


• 9: Prosperity and Positivity at a 'Greedy Institution'


• 10: Public Performance and Political Ambivalences at a Public Speaking Club


• 11: Conclusion: Seeing Ourselves Anew


• Appendix: Research Methods


• Bibliography

About the author

Galen Watts is a Banting Fellow at KU Leuven's Centre for Sociological Research.

Summary

North Americans and Western Europeans increasingly identify as 'spiritual but not religious'. This book combines cultural sociology with intellectual history and political philosophy to examine this 'spiritual turn'.

Additional text

The Spiritual Turn is a compelling and passionate call to attend to the sacred tenets of liberal democracies and deserves to be read very widely.

Product details

• Authors: Galen Watts, Galen (Banting Fellow Watts
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.05.2022
• EAN: 9780192859839
• ISBN: 978-0-19-285983-9
• No. of pages: 274
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Religion/theology > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Religion: general, reference works; Sociology, RELIGION / Spirituality, PHILOSOPHY / Religious, RELIGION / History, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology of Religion, Sociology: customs & traditions, RELIGION / Philosophy, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Customs & Traditions, Spirituality & religious experience, History of Religion, Philosophy of religion, Spirituality and religious experience, Cultural studies: customs and traditions