Young People Attitudes to Religious Diversity

Investigating the hitherto unexplored topic of how young people understand and relate to religious diversity in the social context in which they are growing up, this book makes a significant contribution to the existing body of literature on religious diversity and multiculturalism. It closes a gap in knowledge about young people’s attitudes to religious diversity, and reports data gathered across the whole of the UK as well as comparative chapters on Canada, USA and continental Europe. Reporting findings from both qualitative and quantitative research which reveal, for example, the importance of the particular social and geographical context within which young people are embedded, the volume addresses young people’s attitudes towards the range of ‘world religions’ as well as non-religious stances and offers an interdisciplinary approach through the different analytical perspectives of the contributors.

Elisabeth Arweck is Senior Research Fellow in the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit (WRERU), Centre for Education Studies, University of Warwick, and the Editor of the Journal of Contemporary Religion. Her recent research has focused on young peoplea€?s attitudes to religious diversity and the religious socialisation and nurture of young people. Recent publications include a number of co-authored articles (with Eleanor Nesbitt) and (co-edited) volumes, such as Religion and Knowledge (with Mathew Guest, Ashgate 2013), Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age (with Chris Deacy, Ashgate 2009) and Reading Religion in Text and Context (with Peter Collins, Ashgate 2006). She is the author of several book chapters and of Researching New Religious Movements in the West (Routledge 2007) and co-author (with Peter Clarke) of New Religious Movements in Western Europe: An Annotated Bibliography (Greenwood Press 1997).