Description: Stringer explores the series of discourses around religion and religious diversity that are held by ordinary members of the city. Drawing on examples from UK, Europe and the US, Stringer offers some practical suggestions for ways in which discourses of religious diversity can be managed in the future. Students in the fields of religious studies, sociology, anthropology and urban studies; practitioners involved in inter-religious discussions; church and faith leaders; and politicians should all find this book an invaluable addition to ongoing debates.
Review Quotes: 'Martin Stringer has produced a fascinating bottom-up account of the discourses about religious diversity now flowing through Birmingham's urban culture. Focusing on four arenas in which religious difference becomes manifest - clothing, buildings, festivals, and current event news items - Stringer charts the different ways in which people confront or ignore diversity, and the ways in which difference is downplayed or attributed to ethnic culture, or religion. The result is an insightful analysis of the ways in which religion, culture, and politics become intertwined and how the latent can be as problematic as the manifest. Through it all there is keen attention to the latest currents in urban social theory, making this a book for students of cities, of religion, of immigration, and of contemporary modern society.' Rhys H. Williams, Loyola University Chicago, USA '[Stringer's] new book is not a study of discourses of religions but instead of discourses on religion by ordinary English urbanites. As he puts it, "I want to begin by listening to the people who live within the city and to hear how they are talking about religion, religions, and religious diversity and to identify the kind of assumptions that they are making within their conversations"'. Anthropology Review Database