Jeffrey K. Hadden
Encyclopedia
Jeffrey K. Hadden was an American professor of sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 who began teaching at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

 in 1972. Hadden earned his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 in 1963 at the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

, where he was trained as a demographer
Demography
Demography is the statistical study of human population. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic human population, that is, one that changes over time or space...

 and human ecologist
Human ecology
Human ecology is the subdiscipline of ecology that focuses on humans. More broadly, it is an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary study of the relationship between humans and their natural, social, and built environments. The term 'human ecology' first appeared in a sociological study in 1921...

.

Hadden published numerous scholarly books and articles and essays on religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

 approaching the study of religion from the perspective of social movements theory and characterized his primary interest as the comparative study of religion and politics.

During the 1960s, Hadden studied and wrote about the involvement of liberal Protestant clergy in the Civil Rights Movement
Civil rights movement
The civil rights movement was a worldwide political movement for equality before the law occurring between approximately 1950 and 1980. In many situations it took the form of campaigns of civil resistance aimed at achieving change by nonviolent forms of resistance. In some situations it was...

. He was probably best known for his studies of religious broadcasters and the emergence of the Christian Right
Christian right
Christian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...

 in America during the 1980s, studying the ministries of Jerry Falwell
Jerry Falwell
Jerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...

 in nearby Lynchburg
Lynchburg, Virginia
Lynchburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 75,568 as of 2010. Located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of the James River, Lynchburg is known as the "City of Seven Hills" or "The Hill City." Lynchburg was the only major city in...

, and Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....

 in Virginia Beach.

During the years of peak civil rights activity in the South, Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

 clergy consistently criticized the involvement of liberal clergy on the grounds that religion and politics shouldn't mix. Hadden's interest in religious broadcasters was significantly aroused as it became increasingly evident to him that they were themselves making overtures toward involvement and influence in the political process.

His first publication on the subject of religious broadcasting entitled "Soul-Saving Via Video" appeared in "Christian Century" in 1980.

In 1998, Hadden planned and oversaw the construction of three websites on religious freedom topics at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

: The Religious Freedom Page, Religious Broadcasting, and The Religious Movements Homepage Project. The latter effort involved the contributions of hundreds of undergraduate students who took Hadden's New Religious Movements sociology course during the period.

In 1993 he edited a two-volume work entitled Handbook of Cults and Sects in America with David Bromley (Professor of Sociology at Virginia Commonwealth University).

Hadden published 25 books as well as numerous articles throughout his career. He died on January 26, 2003 of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

 in Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...

 at age 66.

Partial bibliography

Some of Hadden's books include
  • Metropolis in crisis: social and political perspectives, (1967) F.E. Peacock, ISBN B0006D80Y4
  • The Gathering Storm in the Churches, (1969) Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-03326-5
  • Religion in Radical Transition, (1973) 166 pp. Transaction Publishers ISBN 0-87855-070-4
  • Gideon's gang: A case study of the church in social action, (1974), 245pp, United Church Press , ISBN 0-8298-0275-4
  • Prime Time Preachers: The Rising Power of Televangelism. w/ Charles E. Swann. (1981). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing.
  • Prophetic Religions and Politics: Religion and the Political Order.(1986) 144 pp. Paragon House Publishers, ISBN 0-913757-53-5
  • America's uneasy relationship with non-Christian and oriental religions (1986) Thomas Jefferson Institute (1986) ISBN B0007272G6
  • Televangelism: Power and Politics on God's Frontier. w/ Anson Shupe
    Anson Shupe
    Anson D. Shupe is an American sociologist noted for his studies of religious groups and their countermovements, family violence and clergy misconduct.-Work:...

    . (1988). New York: Henry Holt.
  • Secularization and Fundamentalism Reconsidered w/ Anson Shupe. (1989). Paragon House. ISBN 0-913757-96-9
  • Religion and the Social Order: The Handbook on Cults and Sects in America w/ Bromley D. (1993). JAI Press ISBN 1-55938-477-8

External links

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