Religion and Inequality in America

Lisa Keister is Gilhuly Family Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Duke University. She conducts research on wealth inequality, asset accumulation, and the causes of each. She is author of several books, including Faith and Money (2011), Getting Rich: America's New Rich and How They Got There (2005), and Wealth in America (2000). She also does work on Chinese corporations and the country's economic transition. Her research on China includes the book Chinese Business Groups (2000) and various articles. Darren Sherkat is Professor of Sociology at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. His research examines the demography of American religion and the impact of religion on family, stratification, and politics in the United States. He has published more than fifty peer-reviewed articles, and his book, Religious Identification in America, is forthcoming.

• Foreword N. J. Demerath; Introduction Lisa A. Keister and Darren E. Sherkat; Part I. Education: 1. Nonaffiliation and socioeconomic status: differences in education and income between atheists and agnostics and 'nothing in particulars' Rebekah Peeples Massengill; 2. Religion, gender, and educational attainment among US immigrants: evidence from the new immigrant survey Nadia Amin and Darren E. Sherkat; 3. Intersectionality and identity: an exploration of Arab-American women Jen'nan Ghazal Read and David Eagle; Part II. Income, Wealth, and the Labor Market: 4. Conservative protestantism, normative pathways, and adult attainment Scott T. Fitzgerald and Jennifer L. Glass; 5. Religion and wealth mobility: the case of American Latinos Lisa A. Keister and E. Paige Borelli; 6. The labor market behavior of married women with young children in the US: have differences by religion disappeared? Evelyn L. Lehrer and Yu Chen; Part III. Attitudes, Cultural Capital, and Power: 7. Religion and gender inequality: from attitudes to practices John P. Bartkowski and Sarah Shah; 8. Religious stratification and social reproduction Ralph E. Pyle and James D. Davidson; 9. God in the corner office? How religion advances and inhibits professional mobility in the higher circles D. Michael Lindsay; 10. The religious affiliations of ivy league presidents 1636–2012 Deborah L. Coe and James D. Davidson; Part IV. Health and Well-being: 11. The association between religiousness and psychological well-being among older adults: is there an educational gradient? Christopher G. Ellison, Scott H. Schieman and Matt Bradshaw; 12. Does believing or belonging have a greater protective effect on stressful life events among young adults? Margarita Mooney, Lin Wang, Jason Freeman and Matt Bradshaw; 13. Faith, jobs, money, and happiness during the great recession, 2006–10 Michael Hout and Orestes P. Hastings; Part V. Inequality and Religion: 14. Reversing the arrow? Economic inequality's effect on religiosity Frederick Solt.

'Keister and Sherkat's Religion and Inequality in America reviews past research with clarity, offers new analyses and insights, and sets an ambitious agenda for future work. This is a must-read for anyone interested in religion and social stratification.' Roger Finke, Pennsylvania State University