Mass Observers Making Meaning: Religion, Spirituality and Atheism in Late 20th-Century Britain

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What do people believe about death and the afterlife How do they negotiate the relationship between science and religion How do they understand apparently paranormal events What do they make of sensations of awe, wonder or exceptional moments of sudden enlightenment The volunteer mass observers responded to such questions with a freshness, openness and honesty which compels attention. Using this rich material, Mass Observers Making Meaning captures the extraordinarily diverse landscape of belief and disbelief to be found in Britain in the late 20th-century, at a time when Christianity was in steep decline, alternative spiritualities were flourishing and atheism was growing. Divided as they were about the ultimate nature of reality, the mass observers were united in their readiness to puzzle about lifes larger questions. Listening empathetically to their accounts, James Hinton himself a convinced atheist seeks to bring divergent ways of finding meaning in human life into dialogue with one another, and argues that we can move beyond the cacophony of conflicting beliefs to an understanding of our common need and ability to seek meaning in our lives.

Reviews

Our understanding of religion, spirituality and non-religion is impoverished by a lack of first-hand accounts about something so universal, and ineffable, that it lacks even a shared vocabulary: the supernatural, or sense of something else. Fortunately, the eminent historian and Mass Observation expert Prof. James Hinton has filled that gap by creating an engaging, informed book based on late 20th century accounts of such phenomena from MO volunteers. His reflections and interpretations are well-grounded in social history and the social scientific study of religion, making this an indispensable resource for scholars and students trying to understand how modern people make meaning, regardless of their religious affiliations. * Abby Day, Professor of Race, Faith and Culture, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK *
In a recent overview of the use of documents in research about religion, my co-author and I remarked on the unrealised potential of the Mass Observation archive. How satisfying therefore to find a book that not only addresses this lacuna but does so superbly well. I recommend unreservedly this generous, sensitive and compelling account. * Dr. Grace Davie, Professor of Sociology, University of Exeter, UK *

Author Bio

James Hinton is Emeritus Professor of History at University of Warwick, UK. He is the author of several books, including The First Shop Stewards Movement (1974), Nine Wartime Lives: Mass-Observation and the Making of the Modern Self (2010) and The Mass Observers: A History, 19371949 (2013).