Bryan Stanley Turner (born 1945) is a British and Australian sociologist. He was born in January 1945 in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England. Turner has held university appointments in England, Scotland, Australia, Germany, Holland, Singapore and the United States. He was a Professor of Sociology at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

(1998–2005) and Research Team Leader for the Religion Cluster at the Asian Research Institute,

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

(2005–2008). Turner is currently Professor of the Sociology of Religion at the Institute for Religion, Politics and Society at the Australian Catholic University. He is also faculty Associate of the Center for Cultural Sociology at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

, Research Associate, GEMASS at the

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science Basic research, also called pure research o ...

, Fellow of the

Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia The Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) is an independent, non-governmental organisation devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the social sciences. It has its origins in the Social Science Research Council of Austr ...

and Member of the American

Sociological Research Association The Sociological Research Association is an honor society of sociological scholars founded in 1936. With more than 400 members, the association's importance comes from the members being leading sociologists who use the SRA's meetings to network an ...

Early life

Turner attended Harborne Collegiate School for Boys and George Dixon Grammar School. He went on to the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, where he completed a first class

honours Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

degree in Sociology in 1966. He received his Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leeds in 1970 with a thesis titled "The Decline of Methodism: an analysis of religious commitment and organisation". He has received several honorary degrees recognising his contributions to Sociology:

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Doctor ...

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

in 1987,

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

at the

in 2002 and Doctor of Letters at the University of Cambridge in 2009.

Career

Professor Turner's research interests include

sociological theory A sociological theory is a that intends to consider, analyze, and/or explain objects of social reality from a sociological perspective,Macionis, John and Linda M. Gerber. 2010. ''Sociology'' (7th Canadian ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson E ...

, sociology of

globalisation Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

and

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

, concentrating on such issues as religious conflict and the

modern state A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. There is no undisputed definition of a state. One widely used definition comes from the German sociologist Max Weber: a "stat ...

, religious authority and electronic information, religious

consumerism Consumerism is a social and economic order that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever-increasing amounts. With the Industrial Revolution, but particularly in the 20th century, mass production led to overproduction—the supp ...

and youth cultures, human rights and religion, the human body, medical change, and religious cosmologies. Turner wrote his first book ''Weber and Islam'' in 1974 and has since established an international reputation for his work on religion,

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

and

comparative sociology Comparative sociology involves comparison of the social processes between nation states, or across different types of society (for example capitalist and socialist). There are two main approaches to comparative sociology: some seek similarity acr ...

. He is the founding editor of the journals: ''Body & Society'' (with Mike Featherstone), '' Citizenship Studies'', and ''Journal of Classical Sociology'' (with John O'Neill). He is also an editorial member of numerous journals including: ''British Journal of Sociology'', ''European Journal of Social Theory'', ''Contemporary Islam'' and ''Journal of Human Rights''.CSCMS Profile – http://uws.edu.au/cscms/centre_for_the_study_of_contemporary_muslim_societies/key_people/professor_bryan_turner He is the editor of two book series for Anthem Press: ''Key Issues in Modern Sociology'' and ''Tracts for Our Times''; and also of ''Religion in Contemporary Asia'' for Routledge.

Professional recognition

Selected bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Bryan Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Leeds Graduate Center, CUNY faculty Fellows of Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge Living people Academics of the London School of Economics British sociologists Sociologists of religion Medical sociologists 1945 births Western Sydney University faculty Fellows of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia Members of the Sociological Research Association