Association for the Sociology of Religion

The Association for the Sociology of Religion (ASR) is an international scholarly association that seeks to advance theory and research in the sociology of religion. Formed in 1938 as the American Catholic Sociological Society, ASR traces its roots to scholars in search of a hospitable place for both empirical study and social criticism animated by the social teachings of the church. Our 700+ members come from all continents of the world, and their interests and perspectives are just as diverse and global. The Association encourages and communicates research that ranges widely across the multiple themes and approaches in the study of religion, and is a focal point for comparative, historical and theoretical contributions to the field. In addition, the Association facilitates the sharing of members’ interests with sociologists in other associations and scholars of religion in other disciplines.

ASR Papers

• Religion and the Night: Geographic Intersections between Religion and Culture in the East Village, New York City

  Elizabeth Pullen

  Residents and patrons of night culture in the East Village interact in a multitude of activities in both secular and religious spaces. Geographic analysis of religious and cultural players provides an opportunity for participatory study of this neighborhood.  We present an analysis of how congregations and cultural organizations are distributed throughout the East Village, and compare congregations and bars as both competing and collaborative meeting sites.  Experiences of community are analyzed through an examination of residence, employment, and religious and recreational activities. We collected data through qualitative mapping, interviews and surveys.

• Religion and Cultures of the Night: Congregational Agency in the East Village

  Katherine DiSalvo and Lowell W. Livezey

  Seventy-one religious congregations are situated in New York’s East Village, a 1.2 square-mile Lower East Side neighborhood that is known for a thriving, increasingly commercialized nightlife.  They share the streets of this “playscape” with 257 bars and scores of other nightlife institutions – restaurants, clubs, theaters, tattoo parlors, and music venues.  Religious congregations and nightlife institutions are functionally similar: both are highly social and engage intensively in cultural production.  In months of ethnographic study of East Village congregations, we have found that cultural production is a central means by which these congregations interact with area nightlife.  Some congregations deliberately assert cultural values to challenge surrounding night culture and influence individuals within it; others borrow from “the night” in constructing their own observances and practices; some do both.  We will introduce different categories of cultural engagement that we have observed, and examine illustrative cases.

If you would like to download any of the papers above, please email us at eol@nyts.edu .