The post-war generation and establishment religion

About this book

For those who make up what we now call "the Baby-Boom generation," World War II is more than a backdrop to history: It signifies the beginning of a new world. Amidst dramatic changes in international political and economic systems, the advent of television, and cultural pluralism, this generation has come to take for granted new perspectives on the meaning and purpose of family, politics, education, and, most notably, religion. This is the first book to offer a comparative analysis of the impact this post-war generation has had on Christianity around the world. Taking a cross-cultural approach, the contributors examine ten developed countries, including England, France, Germany, Australia, and the United States, and explore the ways baby boomers have helped reshape and redefine "establishment religions" - that is, the dominant, primarily Christian institutions. Looking at the Church of England, the Catholic Church in France, the Lutheran Church in Sweden, and other institutions, the authors of the study find similarities with the ways baby boomers have affected religion in various countries. Yet the peculiar and historical context of each nation has fostered some striking differences as well. The researchers' conclusions are broad and far-reaching, shedding light on the fate of religion both in countries now modernizing and in those countries moving through the modern to the postmodern. Sociologists, historians, and scholars of religion will profit from the insights put forth here on religion in a postmodern context.