Abstract
The author considers in some detail two particular facets of the rational choice approach to religion associated with Rodney Stark and his followers and then discusses the extent to which the general principles of economic rationality can be applied to religion. He argues that an interest in “religious markets” is largely pointless because the characteristics necessary for rational choice (in the economistic sense) are absent when the goods in question are religious.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 33-48 |
Number of pages | 16 |
Journal | Social Compass |
Volume | 53 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2006 |
Keywords
- rational choice
- religious capital
- religious change
- religious market
- secularization