Faith stories (Sustaining meaning and community in troubling times)

Faith stories is an investigation of faith and belief systems in Australia and England. Drawing on ethnography, interviews, focus groups for adults and arts-based workshops for their children, Hickey-Moody takes a community-based approach to examining belonging, attachment, faith, belief and ‘what really matters’ in diverse areas. Each of the book’s research sites is geographically and culturally specific in ways that shape residents’ experiences of community and belonging, but they are united by enduring threads relating to colonisation, diaspora and negotiating belonging in culturally diverse contexts.

Examining faith reveals that there are striking similarities between seemingly different cultures. Understanding these connections can reduce conflict and promote cohesion in communities that are often struggling to adapt to huge changes. This book provides rich resources for those who wish to explore faith and belief in complex social circumstances, either as research or as community engagement. In such increasingly divided times, work like this is needed now more than ever.