Includes bibliographical references and index.

Ch. 1. Thinking globally about religion / Mark Juergensmeyer -- Pt. 1. Indic cultural region -- Ch. 2. Thinking globally about Hinduism / T.N. Madan -- Ch. 3. Traditional Brahmanical society / Joseph W. Elder -- Ch. 4. Popular Hindu movements / David N. Lorenzen -- Ch. 5. The Sikh community / Gurinder Singh Mann -- Ch. 6. The Jain community / Lawrence A. Babb -- Ch. 7. Hindu communities abroad / Vasudha Narayanan -- Pt. 2. Buddhist/Confucian cultural region -- Ch. 8. Thinking globally about Buddhism / Gananath Obeyesekere -- Ch. 9. Theravada Buddhist societies / Donald K. Swearer -- Ch. 10. Tibetan Buddhist society / José Ignacio Cabezón -- Ch. 11. Vietnamese religious society / Jayne S. Werner -- Ch. 12. Traditional Chinese religious society / Vivian-Lee Nyitray -- Ch. 13. Popular religion in mainland China / Christian Jochim. Ch. 14. Traditional Japanese religious society / Susumu Shimazono -- Ch. 15. Japanese new religious movements / Ian Reader -- Ch. 16. Korean religious society / Lewis Lancaster -- Ch. 17. Buddhist communities abroad / Thomas A. Tweed -- Pt. 3. Jewish cultural region. Ch. 18. Thinking globally about Judaism / Harvey E. Goldberg -- Ch. 19. Jewish communities in Israel / Roger Friedland and Richard D. Hecht -- Ch. 20. Jewish communities in North Africa and the Middle East / Reuben Ahroni -- Ch. 21. Jewish communities in Europe / Sergio DellaPergola -- Ch. 22. Jewish communities in the Americas / J. Shawn Landres -- Ch. 23. Jewish communities in Asia / Nathan Katz -- Pt. 4. Christian cultural region -- Ch. 24. Thinking globally about Christianity / Harvey Cox -- Ch. 25. Western European Catholic societies / Karel Dobbelaere -- Ch. 26. Eastern European Catholic societies / Sabrina P. Ramet -- Ch. 27. European Protestant societies / Fritz Erich Anhelm -- Ch. 28. Orthodox Christian societies / Philip Walters -- Ch. 29. Religious communities in Russia / Alexey D. Krindatch -- Ch. 30. The Coptic community / Juan E. Campo, John Iskander -- Ch. 31. Latin American Catholic Societies / Paul E. Sigmund -- Ch. 32. North American Religious Communities / Wade Clarck Roof -- Ch. 33. Evangelical Christian Community in North and South America / Randall Balmer -- Ch. 34. African Christians communities / David Chidester -- Ch. 35. Christian communities in South Asia /
Ainslie T. Embree -- Ch. 36. Christian communities in China / Richard Madsen -- Ch. 37. Christian communities in Southeast Asia / Tara Villalba Munson -- Ch. 38. Mormon communities around the world / Jan Shipps -- Pt. 5. Islamic Cultural Region -- Ch. 39. Thinking Globally about Islam / Said Amir Arjomand -- Ch. 40. Arab Islamic Societies / Saad Ibrahim, Richard C. Martin -- Ch. 41. North African Islamic Societies / Ebrahim Moosa -- Ch. 42. Sub-Saharan African Islam / Abdulkader Tayob -- Ch. 43. European Islam / Amila Buturovic -- Ch. 44. Shi'a Islamic Societies / Mansoor Moaddel -- Ch. 45. Islamic Communities in Central Asia / Richard C. Foltz -- Ch. 46. Islamic Communities in South Asia / Scott Kugle -- Ch. 47. Islamic Societies in Southeast Asia / Mark Woodward -- Ch. 48. Chinese Islamic Communities / Dru C. Gladney -- Ch. 49. American Islamic Communities / Jane I. Smith -- Ch. 50. Religious Movements with Islamic Origins / Ali S. Asani -- Pt. 6. African Cultural Region -- Ch. 51. Thinking Globally about African Religion / Jacob K. Olupona -- Ch. 52. Traditional African Religious Societies / Kofi Asare Opoku -- Ch. 53. Afro-Caribbean Religious Societies / Karen McCarthy Brown -- Pt. 7. Local Religious Societies -- Ch. 54. Thinking Globally about Local Religious Societies / Juha Pentikäinen. Ch. 55. Native American Religious Societies / Nimachia Hernandez -- Ch. 56. Australian Aboriginal Societies / John Hilary Martin -- Ch. 57. Pacific Islands Religious Communities / Joel Robbins -- Pt. 8. Understanding Global Religion -- Ch. 58. Religion in Global Perspective / Martin Riesebrodt -- Ch. 59. Anti-Global Religion? / Roland Robertson -- Ch. 60. The Global Future of Religion / Ninian Smart.

This is a reference for understanding world religious societies in their contemporary global diversity. Comprising 60 essays, the volume focuses on communities rather than beliefs, symbols, or rites. It is organized into six sections corresponding to the major living religious traditions: the Indic cultural region, the Buddhist/Confucian, the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim regions, and the African cultural region. In each section an introductory essay discusses the social development of that religious tradition historically. The other essays cover the basic social facts: the community's size, location, organizational and pilgrimage centers, authority figures, patterns of governance, major subgroups and schisms as well as issues regarding boundary maintenance, political involvement, role in providing cultural identity, and encounters with modernity. Communities in the diaspora and at the periphery are covered, as well as the central geographic regions of the religious traditions. Thus, for example, Islamic communities in Asia and the United States are included along with Islamic societies in the Middle East. The contributors are leading scholars of world religions, many of whom are also members of the communities they study. The essays are written to be informative and accessible to the educated public, and to be respectful of the viewpoints of the communities analyzed.