Day, Abby, Believing in Belonging: Belief and Social Identity in the Modern World, Oxford and
New York, Oxford University Press 2011 (paperback 2013)
New book – September 2011
Abby Day: Believing in Belonging: Belief and Social Identity in the Modern World.
Sussex anthropologist Abby Day’s new book on the Euro American religious landscape is
published in September by Oxford University Press. It is original in several ways:

The first work to analyse and synthesise anthropological and sociological understandings
of belief

The first work to offer a qualitative critique of the religious question on the national UK
census

Makes cross-cultural comparisons of belief in European and American societies

Pilots a unique method of researching religion without asking religious questions

Provides a new response to Grace Davie's 'believing without belonging' theory, one of the
most accepted theories within the sociology of religion worldwide
Believing in Belonging draws on empirical research exploring mainstream religious belief and
identity in Euro-American countries. Starting from a qualitative study based in northern England,
and then broadening the data to include other parts of Europe and North America, Abby Day
explores how people 'believe in belonging', choosing religious identifications to complement
other social and emotional experiences of 'belongings'. The concept of 'performative belief' helps
explain how otherwise non-religious people can bring into being a Christian identity related to
social belongings.
What is often dismissed as 'nominal' religious affiliation is far from an empty category, but one
loaded with cultural 'stuff' and meaning. Day introduces an original typology of natal, ethnic and
aspirational nominalism that challenges established disciplinary theory in both the European and
North American schools of the sociology of religion that assert that most people are 'unchurched'
or 'believe without belonging' while privately maintaining beliefs in God and other 'spiritual'
phenomena.
This study provides a unique analysis and synthesis of anthropological and sociological
understandings of belief and proposes a holistic, organic, multidimensional analytical framework
to allow rich cross cultural comparisons. Chapters focus in particular on: the genealogies of
'belief' in anthropology and sociology, methods for researching belief without asking religious
questions, the acts of claiming cultural identity, youth, gender, the 'social' supernatural, fate and
agency, morality and a development of anthropocentric and theocentric orientations that provides
a richer understanding of belief than conventional religious/secular distinctions.
Readership: Students and scholars of religious studies; of the sociology of religion; of
comparative religion; of theories of secularization
Abby Day, Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Sussex
Dr Abby Day, Research Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Sussex, is an
internationally recognised scholar in the social scientific study of religion. She has conducted
several inter-disciplinary research projects focusing on contemporary belief and belonging in
Euro American contexts and is a sought-after speaker at international conference and workshops.
Previous publications include an edited volume, Religion and the Individual, several academic
papers and book chapters focusing on youth, gender, the 'social supernatural', cultural identity
and the nature of 'nominal belief'.
REVIEWS:
"I find the book highly interesting in particular its methodology and its empirically-based
conclusions. It is an important contribution to the current debates within the sociology of religion
It is also an easily approachable book, which can be read by anyone who is interested in research
on belief" - Lise Kanckos, Approaching Religion
"Days diagnosis of a residual Christian identity in present-day mainstream Britain given little
close attention by other scholars is certainly striking Abby Days tightly organized interpretative
model will provoke fruitful debate." - Jonathan Benthall, Journal of the Royal
Anthropological Institute
"fascinating monograph ... Abby Day writes as an academic sociologist and an active researcher.
Her findings are a helpful contribution to the sociology of secularisation; they open an intriguing
window into believing in Britain today." - Glen Marshall, Regent's Reviews
"Scholars have long erred in taking religions at their word. Now perhaps no longer. In this path
breaking work, Abby Day shows that religious beliefs are far less salient than religious
belonging. Religious doctrine and ritual pale in importance beside religious identity and
community... This theoretical breakthrough rides a methodological wave. Instead of prompting
her respondents by asking directly about their religious beliefs and belongings, she is careful to
embed the issues within the context of their broader convictions and commitments. The point is
not that religion is necessarily less significant, but that it is differently significant. At Day's end,
we all have a new beginning." - Prof. Jay Demerath, University of Massachusetts Amherst