"At a time when the social and political role of religion occupies center-stage in public debate, often generating more heat than light in the process, Gregory Stanczak's exploration of 'Engaged Spirituality' comes like a breath of fresh and welcome air. This is an important book that will surely encourage a better and more rigorous conversation about the role of religion and spirituality in social change." --Michael Edwards, director of Governance and Civil Society, The Ford Foundation

"The intriguing and moving stories told by Stanczak's subjects bring life to his exploration of the ways in which individuals' spiritual experiences shape and sustain their motivations for activist involvement. This hopeful, often inspiring story of faith at work in society should appeal not only to sociologists and religious studies scholars, but also to a more general audience."-Rhys H. Williams, professor of sociology, University of Cincinnati

In recent years, the United States has been characterized not only as a highly religious nation, but as one undergoing a resurgence of spirituality. There is much discussion in both the media and academe about what this means. "Religion" is usually understood to be social, collective, and institutionally-based. "Spirituality," on the other hand, is considered as an emotional and individual practice that borrows from a variety of religious traditions to create a unique devotional system. While scholars have long recognized the importance that religion and religious organizations have played in social activism, they have typically seen spirituality as a private matter with few practical implications.

In Engaged Spirituality, Gregory C. Stanczak challenges this assumption, arguing that spirituality plays an important role in the making of activists and has the potential for changing the social order. As an integral aspect of everyday life, spirituality is a feeling, an experience, a relationship, and a connection of intimate practices that, much like other feelings or relationships in our lives, takes on the texture and color of what is going on around us. While some are more familiar with the concept of spirituality as an alternative means of self-discovery, there are just as many individuals for whom it serves as a driving force to address the injustices they find in their communities and beyond.

Based on over one hundred interviews with individuals of diverse faith traditions, the book shows how prayer, meditation, and ritual provide foundations for activism. Among the stories, a Buddhist monk in Los Angeles intimately describes the physical sensations of strength and compassion that sweep her body when she recites the Buddha's name in times of selfless service, and a Protestant reverend explains how the calm serenity that she feels during retreats allows her to direct her multi-service agency in San Francisco to creative successes that were previously unimaginable.

In an age when Madonna studies Kabbalah, Methodists create home altars with Kwan Yin statues, and the internet is bringing Buddhism to the white middle-class, it is clear that formal religious belonging is no longer enough. Stanczak's critical examination of spirituality provides us with a way of discussing the factors that impel individuals into social activism and forces us to rethink the question of how "religion" and "spirituality" might be defined.

Gregory C. Stanczak is a visiting assistant professor of sociology at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Preface
Chapter 1 Bridging the Gap: The Split between Spirituality and Society
Chapter 2 Biography, Behavior, and Belief: The Sources of Spirituality
Chapter 3 Acting on Faith: Social Roles in Expressing Spirituality
Chapter 4 Keeping the Faith in Action: Cultivating Spiritual Practice
Chapter 5 Experience and Emotion: The Influence of Spiritual Feelings
Chapter 6 Degrees of Social Integration: Toward a Theory of Engaged Spirituality
Chapter 7 Conclusion: Lived Spirituality and the Gamut of Social Action
Appendix
Notes
Bibliography
Index