Martin, David, 1929-2019

David Martin was Professor of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science from 1971 until his early retirement in 1989, and the Elizabeth Scurlock Professor of Human Values at Southern Methodist University from 1986 to 1990. His numerous publications made distinguished and globally recognised contributions to the critical understanding of secularisation, the global spread of Pentecostalism, the interweaving of religion, music and poetry, and debates about religion and violence. His major works include A Sociology of English Religion (1967), A General Theory of Secularization (1978), Tongues of Fire: the Explosion of Protestantism in Latin America (1990), Religion and Power: No Logos without Mythos (2014) and Ruin and Restoration: on Violence, Liturgy and Reconciliation (2016). David Martin is also remembered for his leading role in the campaign to defend the Book of Common Prayer and the King James Bible.

Posted to Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the British Academy, XVIII.