The ten essays in this volume explore the vast diversity of religions in the United States, from Judaic, Catholic, and African American to Asian, Muslim, and Native American traditions. Chapters on religion and the South, religion and gender, indigenous sectarian religious movements, and the metaphysical tradition round out the collection. The contributors examine the past, present, and future of American religion, first orienting readers to historiographic trends and traditions of interpretation in each area, then providing case studies to show their vision of how these areas should be developed. Full of provocative insights into the complexity of American religion, this volume helps us better understand America's religious history and its future challenges and directions.

This latest edition to the ISA handbook series actively engages with the many traditions of sociology in the world. Twenty-nine chapters from prominent international contributors discuss, challenge and re-conceptualize the global discipline of sociology; evaluating the diversities within and between sociological traditions of many regions and nation-states. They assess all aspects of the discipline: ideas and theories; scholars and scholarship; practices and traditions; ruptures and continuities through an international perspective. Its goal is to become a text for debating the contours of international sociology.

Wall Street scandals. Fights over taxes. Racial resentments. A Lakers-Celtics championship. The Karate Kid topping the box-office charts. Bon Jovi touring the country. These words could describe our current moment—or the vaunted iconography of three decades past. In this wide-ranging and wickedly entertaining book, New York Times bestselling journalist David Sirota takes readers on a rollicking DeLorean ride back in time to reveal how so many of our present-day conflicts are rooted in the larger-than-life pop culture of the 1980s—from the “Greed is good” ethos of Gordon Gekko (and Bernie Madoff) to the “Make my day” foreign policy of Ronald Reagan (and George W. Bush) to the “transcendence” of Cliff Huxtable (and Barack Obama). Today’s mindless militarism and hypernarcissism, Sirota argues, first became the norm when an ’80s generation weaned on Rambo one-liners and “Just Do It” exhortations embraced a new religion—with comic books, cartoons, sneaker commercials, videogames, and even children’s toys serving as the key instruments of cultural indoctrination. Meanwhile, in productions such as Back to the Future, Family Ties, and The Big Chill, a campaign was launched to reimagine the 1950s as America’s lost golden age and vilify the 1960s as the source of all our troubles. That 1980s revisionism, Sirota shows, still rages today, with Barack Obama cast as the 60s hippie being assailed by Alex P. Keaton–esque Republicans who long for a return to Eisenhower-era conservatism. “The past is never dead,” William Faulkner wrote. “It’s not even past.” The 1980s—even more so. With the native dexterity only a child of the Atari Age could possess, David Sirota twists and turns this multicolored Rubik’s Cube of a decade, exposing it as a warning for our own troubled present—and possible future.

The era that inspired Stranger Things... The 1980s were marked by the rise of conservative politics, the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic and, at the decade's close, the crumbling of the Berlin Wall – an event that heralded the start of a new age in global politics. Culturally, there was an explosion of creativity while material wealth and consumerism were on the rise. Icons such as Madonna and Michael Jackson dominated the music charts, groundbreaking films like E.T. captured hearts and the rise of cable television led to an abundance of entertainment options. Packed full of fabulous facts and fascinating quotes, this little book explores the key events, icons and ideas that defined the coolest of decades. "Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" Ronald Reagan, 1987 "I am not less life-loving than you are. But I cannot sell my birthright, nor am I prepared to sell the birthright of the people to be free." Nelson Mandela, 1985 "I stand for freedom of expression, doing what you believe in and going after your dreams." Madonna On 8 December 1980, ex-Beatle John Lennon was shot dead. MTV, Music Television launched on 1 August 1981. In 1983, the Motorola DynaTac 8000X – affectionately known as "the Brick" – was launched. It could store 30 numbers.

Author E.R. Vernor, best known as Corvis Nocturnum brings you the ten year anniversary expanded edition of his original expose. The writer reflects on what has changed and stayed the same, with even more insights, interviews and photos never seen before. The author brings you an unprecedented collection of Satanists, vampires, modern primitives, dark pagans, and Gothic artists, all speaking to you in their own words. These are people who have taken something most others find frightening or destructive, and woven it into amazing acts of creativity and spiritual vision. Corvis himself is a dark artist and visionary, and so it is with the eye of a kindred spirit that he has sought these people out to share their stories with you.

Through an examination of 1980s America cultural texts and media, Kevin L. Ferguson examines how new types of individuals were created in order to manage otherwise hidden cultural anxieties during the American 1980s. Exploring a variety of strategies for fashioning self-knowledge in the decade, this book illuminates the hidden lives of surrogate mothers, crack babies, persons with AIDS, yuppies, and brat packers. These seemingly simple stereotypes in fact concealed deeper cultural changes in issues relating to race, class, and gender. Through a range of texts, Eighties People shows how the commonplace reading of the 1980s as a superficial period of little importance disguises the decade's real imperative: a struggle for self-definition outside of the limited set of options given by postmodern theorizing.

Reagan, AIDS, the Challenger disaster ... The 1980s were a pivotal time. Examine the iconic personalities, issues, and moments of the decade.