Religion: what it is and what it does

Religion and Beliefs:

Ask a hundred people what they think religion is and you’ll probably get a hundred different answers.

However, to study religion we have to bring together more general ideas about what religion is and what it does.

This film, featuring Professor Eileen Barker of the London School of Economics, explains and illustrates the two dominant sociological approaches to religion:

• substantive (or exclusive) and
• functional (or exclusive).

 

A great introduction for students new to the topic.