Faith-Based Organizations and Social Welfare Associational Life and Religion in Contemporary Western Europe /

• Corporate Author: SpringerLink (Online service)
• Other Authors: Manuel, Paul Christopher (Editor, http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/edt), Glatzer, Miguel (Editor, http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/edt)
• Format: Electronic eBook
• Language: English
• Published: Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019.
• Edition: 1st ed. 2019.
• Series: Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy
• Subjects: Europe-Politics and government.; Religion and politics.; Democracy.; Welfare state.; Political sociology.; Welfare economics.; European Politics.; Politics and Religion.; Politics of the Welfare State.; Political Sociology.; Social Choice/Welfare Economics/Public Choice/Political Economy.
• Physical Description: XXVI, 232 p. 19 illus., 17 illus. in color. online resource.
• ISBN: 9783319772974
• DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-77297-4

This volume examines the role and function of religious-based organizations in strengthening associational life in a representative sample of West European countries: newly democratized and long-established democracies, societies with and without a dominant religious tradition, and welfare states with different levels and types of state-provided social services. It asks how faith-based organizations, in a time of economic crisis, and with declining numbers of adherents, might contribute to the deepening of democracy. Throughout, the volume invites social scientists to consider the on-going role of faith-based organizations in Western European civil society, and investigates whether the concept of muted vibrancy aids our theoretical understanding.