Religion and Social Protest Movements

<p>What role has religion played in social protest movements? This important book examines how activists have used religious resources such as liturgy prayer song and vestments with a focus on the following global case studies:</p><ul> <p> </p> <li>The mid-twentieth century US civil rights movement. </li> <p> </p> <li>The late twentieth century antiabortion movement in the United States of America. </li> <p> </p> <li>The early twenty-first century water protectors’ movement at Standing Rock North Dakota. </li> <p> </p> <li>Indian independence led by Mohandas Gandhi in the early 1930s. </li> <p> </p> <li>The Polish Solidarity movement of the 1980s. </li> <p> </p> <li>The South African anti-apartheid movement of the 1980s and 1990s. </li> </ul><p>Prayer as a sacred act is usually associated with piety and pacifism; however it can be argued that those who pray in public while protesting are more likely to encounter violence. Drawing on journalistic accounts participant reflections and secondary literature <i>Religion and Social Protest Movements </i>offers both historical and theoretical perspectives on the persistent correlation of the use of public prayer with an increase in conflict and violence. </p><p>This book is an important read for students and researchers in history and religious studies and those in related fields such as sociology African-American studies and Native American studies.</p>