Overview

The Western World is becoming atheist. In the space of three generations churchgoing and religious belief have become alien to millions. We are in the midst of one of humankind’s great cultural changes. How has this happened? Becoming Atheist explores how people of the sixties’ generation have come to live their lives as if there is no God. It tells the life narratives of those from Britain, Western Europe, the United States and Canada who came from Christian, Jewish and other backgrounds to be without faith. Based on interviews with 85 people born in 18 countries, Callum Brown shows how gender, ethnicity and childhood shape how individuals lose religion. This book moves from statistical and broad cultural analysis to use frank, humorous and sometimes harrowing personal testimony. Becoming Atheist exposes people’s role in renegotiating their own identities, and fashioning a secular and humanist culture for the Western world.

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9781474224499

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Reviews

An ambitious book. Lively and well-written ... Brown's imaginative treatment certainly provides rich material for lively debates. * Times Higher Education * [A] readable little book. * Sofia * As the number of men and women rejecting religious faith continues to grow by leaps and bounds, so too grows the need for scholarship that illuminates this historical trend, and Callum Brown's latest work is among the best out there: astute, insightful, unbiased, and informative. So thorough, so thoughtful -- this work is highly recommended. Essential reading for those interested in religion's modern decline. * Phil Zuckerman, Pitzer College, USA and author of Living the Secular Life (Penguin, 2014) * Any book by Callum Brown is sure to be lively, provocative and full of new ideas. He is already internationally renowned as one of the leading historians of secularisation. This oral history of modern atheism and humanism from Vancouver to Tallinn, with long stops on the way in the USA and Britain, is further enriched by vivid detail and a warm sympathy with those whose stories he tells. * Hugh McLeod, University of Birmingham, UK * Callum Brown provides a convincing new interpretation of secularization in the West since 1945, using fascinating oral history narratives to identify key paths to atheism and humanism. He challenges a range of academic orthodoxies with compelling and original arguments. Brown demonstrates the significance of childhood rejection of religion for many lifelong atheists and the crucial intersection of feminism and family issues with the abandonment of religion for women, who have been central to secularizing trends since the 1960s. Other original arguments featured in this groundbreaking and very readable book further transform our understanding of the growing secularization of the modern West. * Lynne Marks, University of Victoria, Canada * One of the biggest cultural shifts in the west - especially the English speaking west - in modern history has been the movement away from religion and towards humanist beliefs and values. This is a people's history as much as it is a tale of cultural and intellectual elites but until now it has been under-studied and under-told. Callum Brown's masterly narrative puts that right and his great skill as an oral historian suits him for the task better than any other. * Andrew Copson, British Humanist Association, UK *

As the number of men and women rejecting religious faith continues to grow by leaps and bounds, so too grows the need for scholarship that illuminates this historical trend, and Callum Brown's latest work is among the best out there: astute, insightful, unbiased, and informative. So thorough, so thoughtful -- this work is highly recommended. Essential reading for those interested in religion's modern decline. Phil Zuckerman, Pitzer College, USA and author of Living the Secular Life (Penguin, 2014) Any book by Callum Brown is sure to be lively, provocative and full of new ideas. He is already internationally renowned as one of the leading historians of secularisation. This oral history of modern atheism and humanism from Vancouver to Tallinn, with long stops on the way in the USA and Britain, is further enriched by vivid detail and a warm sympathy with those whose stories he tells. Hugh McLeod, University of Birmingham, UK Callum Brown provides a convincing new interpretation of secularization in the West since 1945, using fascinating oral history narratives to identify key paths to atheism and humanism. He challenges a range of academic orthodoxies with compelling and original arguments. Brown demonstrates the significance of childhood rejection of religion for many lifelong atheists and the crucial intersection of feminism and family issues with the abandonment of religion for women, who have been central to secularizing trends since the 1960s. Other original arguments featured in this groundbreaking and very readable book further transform our understanding of the growing secularization of the modern West. Lynne Marks, University of Victoria, Canada One of the biggest cultural shifts in the west - especially the English speaking west - in modern history has been the movement away from religion and towards humanist beliefs and values. This is a people's history as much as it is a tale of cultural and intellectual elites but until now it has been under-studied and under-told. Callum Brown's masterly narrative puts that right and his great skill as an oral historian suits him for the task better than any other. Andrew Copson, British Humanist Association, UK

An ambitious book. Lively and well-written ... Brown's imaginative treatment certainly provides rich material for lively debates. Times Higher Education As the number of men and women rejecting religious faith continues to grow by leaps and bounds, so too grows the need for scholarship that illuminates this historical trend, and Callum Brown's latest work is among the best out there: astute, insightful, unbiased, and informative. So thorough, so thoughtful -- this work is highly recommended. Essential reading for those interested in religion's modern decline. Phil Zuckerman, Pitzer College, USA and author of Living the Secular Life (Penguin, 2014) Any book by Callum Brown is sure to be lively, provocative and full of new ideas. He is already internationally renowned as one of the leading historians of secularisation. This oral history of modern atheism and humanism from Vancouver to Tallinn, with long stops on the way in the USA and Britain, is further enriched by vivid detail and a warm sympathy with those whose stories he tells. Hugh McLeod, University of Birmingham, UK Callum Brown provides a convincing new interpretation of secularization in the West since 1945, using fascinating oral history narratives to identify key paths to atheism and humanism. He challenges a range of academic orthodoxies with compelling and original arguments. Brown demonstrates the significance of childhood rejection of religion for many lifelong atheists and the crucial intersection of feminism and family issues with the abandonment of religion for women, who have been central to secularizing trends since the 1960s. Other original arguments featured in this groundbreaking and very readable book further transform our understanding of the growing secularization of the modern West. Lynne Marks, University of Victoria, Canada One of the biggest cultural shifts in the west - especially the English speaking west - in modern history has been the movement away from religion and towards humanist beliefs and values. This is a people's history as much as it is a tale of cultural and intellectual elites but until now it has been under-studied and under-told. Callum Brown's masterly narrative puts that right and his great skill as an oral historian suits him for the task better than any other. Andrew Copson, British Humanist Association, UK

Author Information

Callum G. Brown is Professor of Late Modern European History at the University of Glasgow, UK. He is author of The Death of Christian Britain: Understanding Secularisation 1800-2000 (2nd edition 2009) and Religion and the Demographic Revolution: Women and Secularisation in Canada, UK, Ireland and USA since the 1960s (2012).

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