The idea that religion has to succeed in a -market-, selling -salvation goods-, has proved to be extremely attractive to scholars in sociology and the study of religion. Max Weber used the term -salvation good- to compare different religious traditions. Pierre Bourdieu employed the term in order to analyze -religious economy-. And recently, an American group of researchers advocating -rational choice of religion- put the theme at the forefront of current debates.
This book - the fruit of an International Congress in Lausanne in April 2005 - brings together leading specialists in the fields of sociology and the study of religion who discuss the terms -salvation goods- (or religious goods) and -religious market-. The authors test the applicability of these concepts by using specific examples and they either deliberately advocate or criticize Weberian, Bourdieusian or rational-choice perspectives."