- Religious uses of quantification
Reflections on religion and statistics have focused on the application of quantitative methods to the objects of the social sciences of religion. However, the social sciences are not the only ones to be interested in numbers in the field of religion. Today, whether it is a question of commissioning and commenting on surveys on the characteristics and opinions of the faithful, on the clergy or on anti-religious discrimination, of opposing the inclusion of a question on religion in a census, or even of using a physical or digital rosary to pray, religious actors are not only objects of quantification, they can also be active participants.
This dossier offers an overview of some of the uses of quantification that can be qualified as religious, through contributions from several disciplines (history, sociology, political science, economics) and focusing on various religious contexts. What is counted, and what is not counted, in religious worlds? How do religious institutions produce, comment on, or contest ‘numbers’? How do religious uses of quantification differ from other uses – activist, scholarly, economic?
- Uploaded on Cairn-int.info on 13/12/2021
- ISBN 9782713228728
