Translation of : Manuale di sociologia della religione; Sociology of Religion: An Historical Tntroduction.

Cover; Half Title; Title; Copyright; Contents; List of Tables; About the Author; Introduction to the Transaction Edition: Ideology, Social Constructionism, and the Sociology of Religion by Howard Schneiderman; Preface to the English Edition; The Sociological Definition of Religion; Part I The Origins; 1 The Historical-Philosophical Background; 2 August Comte (1798-1857): The Universal Religion; 3 Tocqueville (1805-1859): Religion and Democracy; 4 Bergson (1859-1941): Religion and Élan Vital -- 5 The Contribution of Anthropology; Part II The Classics; 1 Durkheim (1858-1917): Religious Forms. 2 Weber (1864-1920): Universal Religions3 Simmel (1858-1918): Religiosity and Religion; 4 Freud (1856-1939): The Psychic Dimension of Religion; 5 William James (1842-1910): Psychosocial Perspective; Part III The Contemporaries; 1 Religion as Universal; 2 The Macrosociological Approach; 3 The Historical-Cultural Dynamics; 4 The Frankfurt School and Religion; 5 The New European Perspectives; 6 The Socioanthropological Perspectives; Part IV Recent Developments; 1 Secularization; 2 Religious Pluralism; 3 Robert Bellah (1927-2013): Civil Religion; 4 North American Trends; 5 The European Trends. 6 Niklas Luhmann (1927-1998): Religion as Function7 The New Religious Movements; Afterword; Bibliography; Author Index; General Index.