A Particular Place: Urban Restructuring and Religious Ecology in a Southern Exurb [Hardcover]

Nancy L. Eiesland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000

Focusing on how the religious congregations (all Protestant) of a particular town adapted to a rapid influx of newcomers, this book makes a significant contribution to sociological literature, in an interesting narrative style. . . . Eiesland’s work is the perfect complement to that of other major contributors in the field, such as Robert Wuthnow, Wade Clark Roof, William McKinney, David A. Rootzen, Jackson Carroll, and Nancy T. Ammerman.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The book's rich details and warm stories, framed in solid organizational theory, make it essential reading both for scholars trying to understand the changing religious landscape and for religious leaders trying to find their role in it." -- Helen Rose Ebaugh, president, Society for the Scientific Study of Religion

"Writing with wisdom and wit, Nancy Eiesland introduces religious ecology through a textured case study of urbanization and religious restructuring in a Georgia town." -- R. Stephen Warner, professor of sociology, University of Illinois, Chicago --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Back Cover

A Particular Place tells the story of the dramatic changes that take place in the religious lives of a community faced with urban restructuring-in this case, Dacula, Georgia, a once-quiet small town on the outskirts of Atlanta. The demographics of Dacula were drastically altered by population influx, service sector development, and housing expansion. Nancy L. Eiesland provides a pathbreaking, qualitative study of how local religious congregations altered themselves, their community, and their relations with one another in light of this disruption to their social order. The author gauges these changes by examining the lives of area newcomers and of long-time residents. She discusses their responses to the emergence of a megachurch and arising conflicts in their community, and investigates the wrenching processes of congregation birth and death. Applying population ecology approaches to the study of religious organizations within their local contexts, A Particular Place addresses two types of restructuring that are often mutually implicated but seldom addressed together-urban and religious restructuring. This book demonstrates just how much can be learned from close attention to "a particular place." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813527376
• ISBN-13: 978-0813527376
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds

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