Religion as Social Capital

This is a rich collection that will reward the reader with a multitude of leads for unraveling the complex story of the place of religion in American civic life.

~Michael W. Foley, The Catholic University of America

This volume is a valuable contribution to ongoing discussion about religion's place in civil society and its role in fostering social capital. These authors take religion seriously without romanticizing its potential or obscuring its limits. They challenge all of us concerned with the health of American democracy to do the same.

~Mark Chaves, University of Arizona

The concept of social capital is under wide discussion in the contemporary sociology social sciences. It is formed by a vital civil society, and evoked and protected in democratic polities with a strong sense of a limited state. Most treatments of it recognize that religious communities play some role, but too few systematic studies have assessed the impact of religion and faith-based organizations in generating, sustaining, and shaping it. This fine collection of essays will be of interest not only to social scientists and political theorists, but it should also be of concern to all involved in the debates over faith-based social-service programs and to clergy of every stripe. The implications of what they do may be deeper and wider than they know.

~Max L. Stackhouse, Kuyper Center for Public Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary