Department ofSociology and Criminology

Department ofSociology and Criminology

Roger Finke

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Roger Finke
Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Religious Studies
Founder of the Association of Religion Data Archives (theARDA.com)

Curriculum Vitae

View my CV

Education

Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, 1984, Sociology

Websites

http://www.theARDA.com

Professional Bio

Current Research Projects

I am currently working on a series of projects that explore the relationship between religion and the state. This research is attempting to explain the level of restrictions governments place on religion, especially religious minorities, and the implications these restrictions have for religious organizations, civil liberties and social conflict. I am also working with Jonathan Fox to chart the level of societal discrimination against religious minorities and to understand how this discrimination contributes to social conflict and to the state’s discrimination against religious minorities.

Selected Publications

Books

  • Christopher P. Scheitle and Roger Finke. 2012   Places of Faith: A Road Trip Across America’s Religious Landscape. Oxford University Press.
  • Grim, Brian J. and Roger Finke. 2011. The Price of Freedom Denied: Religious Persecution and Conflict in the 21st Century. Cambridge University Press.
  • Stark, Rodney and Roger Finke. 2000. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion.  Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
  • Finke, Roger and Rodney Stark. 1992. The Churching of America, 1776-1990: Winners and Losers in our Religious Economy.  New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. (Second Edition, 2005).
Edited Books
  • Finke, Roger and Christopher D. Bader. (eds.). 2017. Faithful Measures: The Art and Science of Measuring Religion. New York, NY: New York University Press.
  • Finke, Roger and Benjamin T. Gurrentz (eds.). 2015. The ARDA’s American Religion Timelines. http://www.thearda.com/timeline/

Articles

  • Fox, Jonathan and Roger Finke. 2021. "Ensuring Individual Rights through Institutional Freedoms: The Role of Religious Institutions in Securing Religious Rights." Religions 12(4):1-23.
  • Finke, Roger and Dane R. Mataic. 2019. “Promises, Practices and Consequences of Religious Freedom: A Global Overview.” University of St. Thomas Law Journal 15(3): 587-606.
  • Finke, Roger, Dane Mataic and Jonathan Fox. 2017. "Assessing the Impact of Religious Registration." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 56: 720-736.
  • Gurrentz, Benjamin T. and Roger Finke. 2017. "When Contact Counts: Testing Interreligious Contact on Out-group Prejudice in the Caucasus Region." Social Science Research  63: 308-323.
  • Finke, Roger and Robert R. Martin. 2014. “Ensuring Liberties: Understanding State Restrictions on Religious Freedoms.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 53(4): 687-705.
  • Finke, Roger. 2013. "Origins and Consequences of Religious Restrictions: A Global Overview." Sociology of Religion 74: 1-17.
  • Finke, Roger and Jaime Harris. 2011.  “Wars and Rumors of Wars: Explaining Religiously Motivated Violence.” In Religion, Politics, Society and the State, Jonathan Fox, ed., New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Finke, Roger and Amy Adamczyk. 2008. “Cross-National Moral Beliefs: The Influence of National Religious Context.” The Sociological Quarterly 49: 617-652.
  • Grim, Brian J. and Roger Finke. 2007 "Religious Persecution in Cross-National Context: Clashing Civilizations or Regulated Religious Economies?" American Sociological Review 72: 633-658.
  • Finke, Roger, Matt Bahr and Chris Scheitle. 2006 "Toward Explaining Congregational Giving." Social Science Research 35: 620-641. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2005.04.001.
  • Finke, Roger and Rodney Stark. 2004. "The Dynamics of Religious Economies." in Michele Dillon (ed.), Handbook of the Sociology of Religion. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Finke, Roger. 2004. "Innovative Returns to Tradition: Using Core Beliefs as the Foundation for Innovative Accommodation." Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43: 19-34.
  • Finke, Roger and Kevin Dougherty. 2002.  “The Effects of Professional Training: The Social and Religious Capital Acquired in Seminaries.”Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41: 103-120.
  • Wybraniec, John and Roger Finke. 2001. "Religious Regulation and the Courts: The Judiciary's Changing Role in Protecting Minority Religions from Majoritarian Rule."  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40: 427-444. Reprinted in James T. Richardson (ed.). 2003. Regulating Religion: Case Studies from Around the Globe. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
  • Finke, Roger and Rodney Stark. 2001. “The New Holy Clubs: Testing Church-to-Sect Propositions.” Sociology of Religion 62: 175-189.
  • Finke, Roger and Patricia Wittberg. 2000.  "Organizational Revival from Within: Explaining Revivalism and Reform in the Roman Catholic Church."  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 39:154-170.
  • Finke, Roger. 1997.  "The Consequences of Religious Competition: Supply-side Explanations for Religious Change." in Lawrence A. Young (ed.), Rational Choice Theory and Religion, New York: Routledge Press.
  • Finke, Roger. 1997. "The Illusion of Shifting Demand: Supply-Side Interpretations of American Religious History." in Thomas Tweed (ed.),Retelling U.S. Religious History. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Finke, Roger. 1997. "An Orderly Return to Tradition: Explaining Membership Growth in Catholic Religious Orders."  Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 36: 218-230.
  • Iannaccone, Laurence R., Roger Finke, and Rodney Stark. 1997. "Deregulating Religion: Supply-Side Stories of Trends and Change in the Religious Marketplace."  Economic Inquiry 35: 350-364.
  • Finke, Roger, Avery Guest, and Rodney Stark. 1996. "Mobilizing Religious Markets: Religious Pluralism in the Empire State, 1865." American Sociological Review 61: 203-218.
  • Finke, Roger. 1990. "Religious Deregulation: Origins and Consequences." Journal of Church and State 32: 609-626.
  • Finke, Roger and Rodney Stark. 1988. "Religious Economies and Sacred Canopies: Religious Mobilization in American Cities, 1906." American Sociological Review 53(1): 41-49.
rfinke@psu.edu
814-380-4489