Religion, Spirituality and Secularity among Millennials: The Generation Shaping American and Canadian Trends

Description

This book explores the world of religion, spirituality and secularity among the Millennial generation in the United States and Canada, with a focus on the ways Millennials are doing (non)religion differently in their social lives compared with their parents and grandparents. It considers the influences exercised on the (non)religious and spiritual landscapes of young adults in North America by the digital age, precarious work, growing pluralism, extreme individualism, environmental crisis, advanced urbanism, expanded higher education, emerging adulthood, and a secular age. Based on extensive primary and secondary quantitative data, complemented with high-quality qualitative research, including interviews and focus groups, this book offers cross-national comparisons between the United States and Canada to highlight the impact of different social environments on the experience of religion, spirituality and secularity among the continent’s most numerous generation. As such, it will appeal to scholars of religion and sociology, with interests in religious and societal change as well as in religious practice among young adults. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Contents Figures Acknowledgments Data Availability Statement 1. Millennial Religion, Socially Located Outsider Representations The Millennial Social Location A Digital Age Neoliberalism and Economic Precarity Growing Pluralism Paired with Ongoing Systemic Racism and Inequalities Individual Choice and Consumerism Environmental Degradation and Climate Change Further Urbanism and Cosmopolitanism Expanded Higher Education Emerging Adulthood as an Extended Life Stage Religion among Millennials The Impact of a Secular Age Heading Down the Yellow #Lit Road ... Notes References 2. Different Approaches to Millennial Religion, Spirituality and Secularity Identifying with and Belonging to Religion Doing Religion Believing Religion Attitudes toward Religion Toward a Latent Class Typology The Religious Millennial The Spiritual Seeker Millennial The Cultural Believer Millennial The Nonreligious Millennial Notes References 3. The Religious Millennial Digital Religion among Millennials Headed Left: Moving along the Political Spectrum Experiencing the Cross-Pressures Notes References 4. The Spiritual Seeker Millennial Conceptually Distinct, but Empirically Entwined Nature and the Outdoors as Spiritual Resources Millennials as Reverential Naturalism Forerunners? Note References 5. The Cultural Believer Millennial The Importance of Cultural Ties Stronger In-Group Identity Can Sometimes Also Mean Stronger Out-Group Sentiments Cultural Catholics and Bill 21 in Québec Anti-Group Sentiment in the 2019 MTS Why Cultural Believers? The Transitional Category Notes References 6. The Nonreligious Millennial Defining and Measuring Something That Is Not (Non)Religious Switching and Retention from Parent to Millennial Intergenerational Disaffiliation Strong Intergenerational Transmission of Parental Nonreligion Different Ways of Being Nonreligious Notes References 7. Conclusion Cross-Generational Continuity Cross-Generational Difference Comparing the United States and Canada Looking Forward to Middle Adulthood Looking to Raising Their Children Note References Appendix A Index