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BOOK REVIEWS
| AFTER HEAVEN: SPIRITUALITY IN AMERICA SINCE THE 1950s. By Robert Wuthnow. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1998. 277 pp. Softbound $18.95.
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Not many years ago leading social theorists of religion were predicting the decline of religion and spirituality as secularism became more and more dominant in the West and elsewhere. Interestingly, some of the leading proponents of this "secularization theory" have since reversed themselves in light of the continued importance placed on religion in the contemporary world (see, for example, Harvey Cox's Religion in the Secular City, 1984; and Peter Berger's more recent The Desecularization of the World, 1999). Robert Wuthnow, the prolific sociologist of religion at Princeton University, has produced an important volume in this discussion, detailing as it does the changes in American spirituality since the 1950s. Wuthnow clearly demonstrates that although religion has certainly changed in America since the 1950s, the quest for, and importance of, spirituality remains as strong as ever. |
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The term "quest" is used intentionally here because it is a key component in Wuthnow's analysis. He argues that there has been a shift in America from a spirituality based on "dwelling" to one based on "seeking." Dwelling emphasizes the importance of sacred places, such as the home and temple, and is more prevalent during times of social stability. This was the form of spirituality that typified the post-war period of the 1950s. In contrast, seeking focuses on individuals looking for sacred moments, which are fleeting, and negotiating "among complex and confusing meanings of spirituality" (4). This form of spirituality, more common during times of social instability, began to take hold in America during the turbulent 1960s. |
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But Wuthnow's treatment of spirituality in America is not merely analytical, it is also prescriptive. He advocates a "practice-oriented spirituality" where "people engage intentionally in activities that deepen their relationship to the sacred," causes "people to engage in service to others, and to lead their lives in a worshipful manner" (169). Such practices would include prayer, worship, meditation, devotional reading, and fellowship with others. He believes that both the dwelling and seeking approaches to spirituality are deficient. The dwelling approach "encourages dependence on communities that are inherently undependable" and focuses too much energy on place rather than on "the full round of human needs in a complex world." The seeking approach "is invariably too fluid to provide individuals with the social support they need to encourage the stability and dedication to grow spiritually and to mature in character" (15, 16). Practice-oriented spirituality, on the other hand, places "responsibility squarely on individuals to spend time on a regular basis worshipping, communing with, listening to, and attempting to understand the ultimate source of sacredness in their lives" (16). From this perspective, "religious institutions need to be conceived as facilitators, rather than as ends in themselves" (17). |
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The structure of After Heaven nicely explicates these different approaches to spirituality. After an introductory chapter where Wuthnow lays out the main points related to the shift from dwelling to seeking and of a practice-oriented spirituality, the subsequent chapters examine in some detail these and other aspects of the evolution of American spirituality. Wuthnow discusses such topics as the return to a more disciplined spirituality after the 1960s (chapter 4), and the growing interest among many Americans in miracles, angels, and other supernatural experiences which includes, but is not limited to, what has come to be known as "New Age" spirituality (chapter 5). The latter manifestations of spirituality are so meaningful for those who experience them because "such encounters are relatively fluid, personalized, ephemeral, and amorphous, all of which fits with the complex, homeless world in which spirituality is currently sought" (115). In other words, it is a form of spirituality that reflects the "seeking" paradigm that currently dominates Americans' approach to spirituality. |
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Wuthnow masterfully weaves together information from a variety of sources—life history interviews, opinion surveys, and existing research—to help us understand how the current eclectic approach to spirituality in America developed over time. He and his research team conducted approximately two hundred interviews, which were taped and transcribed. Narrators were chosen using a "purposive quota design" that ensures "relative equal numbers of men and women, younger and older people, and people from different socioeconomic strata" (200), as well as religious, ethnic, and racial diversity. A semistructured interview guide was used that focused the interviews on the spiritual experiences, journeys, and religious activities of the narrators. The themes identified and expounded upon in the different chapters of the book, particularly the distinction between a spirituality based on dwelling and one based on seeking, came directly from these interviews. |
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Narrators' stories are used throughout the book to illustrate different points about American spirituality. For example, there is "Ned Stewart" (pseudonyms are used throughout the book), a man in his fifties, whose religious upbringing is used to show the importance of sacred space in post-World War II America, but who also illustrates the difficulty in maintaining a spirituality of dwelling in unsettled times (20, 42). There's Lee Ackerman, a retired carpenter, whose religious story shows "how closely intertwined spirituality and consecrated space could be" (24). And there's Kim Lacy who "illustrates how spirituality and the quest for a home came together ... and then left her with a gnawing desire for something else when the resulting dwelling could no longer be taken for granted" (45). These are just a few of the many narrators whose experiences bring a very human quality to Wuthnow's sociological analysis. |
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Most of the stories are excerpts from longer interviews, with few extended verbatim quotes from the narrators; rather, Wuthnow paraphrases and summarizes the parts of their stories that illustrate his points. Oral historians and those who work with oral sources might justifiably be disappointed with this approach. Since the interviews used in the book were taped, one might wish that the author would have included more direct and extended quotes from the narrators, thereby allowing them to tell more of their stories in their own words and vernacular. This certainly would have brought the narrators more to life and added to the power and effectiveness of their experiences. |
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After Heaven very nicely presents the complexity of contemporary spirituality. Wuthnow, being the consummate sociologist, places the spiritual changes that have taken place since the 1950s within broader social and cultural changes as well as sociological theory. The result is a highly readable treatment of the subject that will appeal to scholars of religion in America as well as non-academics who are interested in understanding what has led to the varieties of spirituality we see around us daily. The focused life histories form an integral part of the book, and when combined with the other sources of information, present a personal and important picture of spirituality in America. |
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| Steven Ybarrola |
| Central College |
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