Christopher Baker
Staff details
Christopher Baker is William Temple Professor of Religion and Public Life and Director of the William Temple Foundation. He has degrees in both English Language and Literature (BA Hons, Manchester University), Theology (B.Th, M.Th University of Southampton and University of London) and Religion and Urban Planning (PhD, Manchester University). His work focuses on the impact of religion and belief on public life, at both theoretical and empirical levels, and is interdisciplinary focusing on spatial and built environments, political economy, community development and local government policy, wellbeing and flourishing and the work-based and business environment. His work also explores the changing dynamic of faith-based organisations and communities, and is rooted in both theological as well as social scientific disciplines. Major themes in his work include spiritual capital and postsecularity. He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
Research Interests
As well as a playing a key role in attracting funding and up and coming researchers in the field of religion, belief and public life at the Faiths and Civil Society Unit, Prof Baker is also Director of Research at the William Temple Foundation, an independent research hub established in 1947 in memory of Archbishop William Temple, who first coined the phrase the welfare state, and whose visionary leadership in the days of WW2 paved the way for the creation of the post-war universal and comprehensive welfare state. In these combined roles, Prof Baker is developing new research, theory and publication around one of the defining trajectories of the 21st century – namely the newly visible role and impact of religion and belief on public life, and its political, social, economic, urban, policy and theological implications at both global and local levels. He is the originator of spiritual capital theory in its current policy and academic discourse, a leading exponent of postsecular theory and a pioneer of the spatial turn in theology, as well as interdisciplinarity in the study of religion and belief for policy.
Publications
Book Section
Postsecularity and a New Urban Politics—Spaces, Places and Imaginaries
Baker, Christopher. 2018. Postsecularity and a New Urban Politics—Spaces, Places and Imaginaries. In: Helmuth Berking; Silke Steets and Jochen Schwenk, eds. Religious Pluralism and the City Inquiries into Postsecular Urbanism. London: Bloomsbury, pp. 81-101. ISBN 9781350037687
Article
New Interdisciplinary Spaces of Religions and Beliefs in Contemporary Thought and Practice: An Analysis
Dinham, Adam and Baker, Christopher. 2017. New Interdisciplinary Spaces of Religions and Beliefs in Contemporary Thought and Practice: An Analysis. Religions, 8, ISSN 2077-1444
Faith in the public sphere – in search of a fair and compassionate society for the twenty-first century
Baker, Christopher. 2016. Faith in the public sphere – in search of a fair and compassionate society for the twenty-first century. Journal of Beliefs & Values, 37(3), pp. 259-272. ISSN 1361-7672
Sustainable Governance in a Postsecular Public Sphere: Re-assessing the Role of Religion as a Cosmopolitan Policy Actor in a Diverse and Globalized Age
Baker, Christopher. 2016. Sustainable Governance in a Postsecular Public Sphere: Re-assessing the Role of Religion as a Cosmopolitan Policy Actor in a Diverse and Globalized Age. Sustainable Development, 24(3), pp. 190-198. ISSN 0968-0802
The Role of Embedded Individual Values, Belief and Attitudes and Spiritual Capital in Shaping Everyday Postsecular Organizational Culture
Stokes, Peter; Baker, Christopher and Lichy, Jessica. 2016. The Role of Embedded Individual Values, Belief and Attitudes and Spiritual Capital in Shaping Everyday Postsecular Organizational Culture. European Management Review, 13(1), pp. 37-51. ISSN 1740-4754
Entangled Fidelities: Towards a Relational Christian Realism for the Public Sphere
Baker, Christopher; Reader, John and James, Thomas A.. 2015. Entangled Fidelities: Towards a Relational Christian Realism for the Public Sphere. Political Theology, 16(3), pp. 247-263. ISSN 1462-317X
Introduction to the Special Issue: Speculative Philosophies and Religious Practices
Baker, Christopher; Reader, John and Whistler, Daniel. 2015. Introduction to the Special Issue: Speculative Philosophies and Religious Practices. Political Theology, 13(2), pp. 141-155. ISSN 1462-317X
Roots and shoots and the curious case of Schleiermacher’s tree (aka ‘Is rhizomatic truth seceding arborescent reality?)
Baker, Christopher. 2013. Roots and shoots and the curious case of Schleiermacher’s tree (aka ‘Is rhizomatic truth seceding arborescent reality?). International Journal of Practical Theology, 17(2), ISSN 1430-6921
Moral Freighting and Civic Engagement: A UK Perspective on Putnam and Campbell's Theory of Religious-Based Social Action
Baker, Christopher. 2013. Moral Freighting and Civic Engagement: A UK Perspective on Putnam and Campbell's Theory of Religious-Based Social Action. Sociology of Religion, 74(3), pp. 343-369. ISSN 1069-4404
Introduction: Social Policy and Religion in Contemporary Britain – Taking Stock and Moving Forward
Baker, Christopher and Jawad, Rana. 2012. Introduction: Social Policy and Religion in Contemporary Britain – Taking Stock and Moving Forward. Social Policy and Society, 11(04), pp. 547-551. ISSN 1474-7464
Spiritual Capital and Economies of Grace: Redefining the Relationship between Religion and the Welfare State
Baker, Christopher. 2012. Spiritual Capital and Economies of Grace: Redefining the Relationship between Religion and the Welfare State. Social Policy and Society, 11(04), pp. 565-576. ISSN 1474-7464
Faith and Traditional Capitals: Defining the Public Scope of Spiritual and Religious Capital—A Literature Review
Baker, Christopher and Miles-Watson, Jonathan. 2010. Faith and Traditional Capitals: Defining the Public Scope of Spiritual and Religious Capital—A Literature Review. Implicit Religion, 13(1), ISSN 1463-9955
Exploring Secular Spiritual Capital: An Engagement in Religious and Secular Dialogue for a Common Future?
Baker, Christopher and Miles-Watson, Jonathan. 2008. Exploring Secular Spiritual Capital: An Engagement in Religious and Secular Dialogue for a Common Future? International Journal of Public Theology, 2(4), pp. 442-464. ISSN 1872-5171
Hybridity and Practical Theology: In Praise of Blurred Encounters
Baker, Christopher. 2006. Hybridity and Practical Theology: In Praise of Blurred Encounters. Contact, 149(1), pp. 5-11. ISSN 1352-0806
Religious faith in the exurban community
Baker, Christopher. 2005. Religious faith in the exurban community. City, 9(1), pp. 109-123. ISSN 1360-4813
Going with the Flow: Can Christian Faith Communities in the UK Flourish in Non-Institutional Civil Society?
Baker, Christopher. 2005. Going with the Flow: Can Christian Faith Communities in the UK Flourish in Non-Institutional Civil Society? Political Theology, 6(1), pp. 107-125. ISSN 1462-317X