Sociological Explorations

What Is Religious Agency

Bibliographic Data

ID2277237
AuthorsLaura M Leming (University of Dayton, corresponding author)
Year2007
Volume48
Issue1
Pages73-92
Publication date2007-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociological Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0253 • E-ISSN: 1533-8525
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1533-8525.2007.00071.x
OpenAlexW2062451872
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited33

This article proposes religious agency as a sociological concept providing a lens that sharpens our understanding of the ways that individuals claim and enact a meaningful religious identity. Interview data from the case of woman-conscious Catholic women demonstrate how religious agency is enacted in emotional, intellectual, and behavioral strategies, thereby enabling individuals to negotiate overlapping and valued identities. The strategies emerge from specific social contexts and are categorized as strategies of gaining voice, negotiating place and space, and flexible alignment. The article also suggests that religious agency has merit beyond this initial case of woman-conscious Catholics

Aesthetics · Agency (philosophy) · Epistemology · Identity (music) · Negotiation · Religious identity · Social science · Sociological research · Sociological theory · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Gender Studies · Psychology · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology · Social Psychology

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