Faith, public policy, and civil society

Using empirical data and theory, this book explores the role of faiths as public actors; their contribution to welfare services, how they help build community cohesion - and break it down - and what it means for them and for others to be involved in new modes of governance. It asks does their emphatic presence threaten the public table, or might it stimulate a new and helpful way of doing things? The very idea of faiths at the public table raises controversy: what 'faith' is and what 'faiths' are, the relationship between faiths, public policy and civil society; and questions about the role - for that matter the legitimacy - of public faith. This book brings those controversies to the surface and rethinks what faiths bring to the public sphere.