Search

This open access book offers an unprecedented analysis of child welfare schemes, situating them in the wider context of post-war policy debates about the care of children. Between 1945 and 1970, an estimated 3,500 children were sent from Britain to Australia, unaccompanied by their parents, through child migration schemes funded by the Australian and British Governments and delivered by churches, religious orders and charities. Functioning in a wider history of the migration of unaccompanied children to overseas British colonies, the post-war schemes to Australia have become the focus of public attention through a series of public reports in Britain and Australia that have documented the harm they caused to many child migrants. Whilst addressing the wide range of organisations involved, the book focuses particularly on knowledge, assumptions and decisions within UK Government Departments and asks why these schemes continued to operate in the post-war period despite often failing to adhere to standards of child-care set out in the influential 1946 Curtis Report. Some factors – such as the tensions between British policy on child-care and assisted migration – are unique to these schemes. However, the book also examines other factors such as complex government systems, fragmented lines of departmental responsibility and civil service cultures that may contribute to the failure of vulnerable people across a much wider range of policy contexts.

Over the past ten years there has been an explosion of interest in how religion and the sacred connect with the media and cultures of everyday life. How are religious communities, identities and rituals being transformed by new media such as the internet? What is the significance of the media when for many people it becomes the primary source of images and of an encounter with religious traditions? Do the media and popular culture themselves take on religious significance, and how do people make use of these popular resources to'do'religion in the contemporary world? As researchers have tried to answer these and other questions, a growing body of literature has begun to develop. Between Sacred and Profane offers a major review of this young and exciting field of scholarship, highlighting both its achievements and flaws, and setting out an agenda for its next phase of study. The book is an invaluable guide and handbook for beginning students who are looking for a first overview of the key issues and debates, as well as for more experienced scholars who wish to reflect on how their work will develop in future. Between Sacred and Profane will be required reading for courses in theology, religion and contemporary culture for many years to come.

'Understanding Theology and Popular Culture'is one of the first books to give an overview of the key issues and methods in this field of study. This title provides a detailed introduction to key theories and debates in popular cultural studies. It presents a reasoned argument about the distinctive contribution that theology can make to the study of popular culture. It is illustrated through a range of original case studies, from Eminem to The Simpsons. It is suitable for both beginning students and more advanced researchers. The author has created the Theology and Popular Culture Gateway which is one of the first academic Internet gateways for the study of theology and contemporary culture.