What can we say about today's British religious young person? Findings from the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme

Abstract

Since the late 20th century, research linking youth and religion has begun to grow. Such growth has been given a particular boost in the UK by the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme. This article addresses what we can say about today's British religious young person through review of new research findings from the Programme. One certainly can no longer assume that a British religious young person is a practising Christian. He or she is likely to engage with a range of offline and online resources in order to learn more about their faith, and feel some tensions between their commitments and engagement with wider society. Social class and other factors will affect his or her capacity to engage with religion and civil society. Like their non-religious peers, today's British religious young person values relationships and authenticity. Tensions between structure and agency in our neoliberal age emerge through their stories. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.