Religion and Social Transformations Volume 2

This title was first published in 2002: Religion and Social Transformations examines the reciprocal relationship between religion, modernity and social change. The book focuses on the world's three major missionary religions - Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. It explores how these three traditions are responding to some of the most challenging issues associated with globalization, including the role of religion in the fall of Communism; the tension between religion and feminism; the compatibility of religion and human rights; and whether ancient religions can accommodate new challenges such as environmentalism. The five textbooks and Reader that make up the Religion Today Open University/Ashgate series are: From Sacred Text to Internet; Religion and Social Transformations; Perspectives on Civil Religion; Global Religious Movements in Regional Context; Belief Beyond Boundaries; Religion Today: A Reader

Introduction, David Herbert; Part I: Religion and the ’Great Transformation’ in Poland and East Germany, David Herbert; Islam and Human Rights, David Herbert; What It Meant and What It Means: Feminism, Religion and Interpretation, Susan Mumm; Buddhist Responses to Environmental Crisis, Helen Waterhouse; Part Ii: Theologians and the Renewal of Democratic Political Institutions, John Burgess; a Feminist Interpretation of Women’s Rights in Islam, Fatima Mernissi; Kali the Saviour, Lina Gupta; the Global Environment as a Religious Issue: a Sociological Analysis, Peter Beyer.