Hans A. Baer and Merrill Singer, in African-American Religion in the Twentieth Century: Varieties of Protest and Accommodation, approach their subject employing a unique combination of conceptual and contextual elements. In addition, they seek to shed light on connections not dealt with adequately by previous researchers.
For example, they aim to clarify the connection between the origins and development of African-American religion and capitalism. Their conceptual framework is "social scientific" (xii) and their approach is "methodological agnosticism" (xiii). They honor the variety of expression and practice in their field by providing "the first comprehensive overview that covers this period and attempts to recognize the diversity of forms that African-American religion takes" (xii). They refer to themselves as "critical anthropologists" in delineating their grandest purpose: "We hope that our efforts will contribute to a fuller appreciation of the richness of African-American religion and the strategies that Black people have adopted in their search for hope and dignity in a society that has treated them and continues to treat them brutally" (xiv). In pursuing these objectives and exploring these and other concepts in a framework which utilizes sociological and anthropological methods, the authors focus specifically on the use of religion by African-Americans to both find meaningful and useful connections with the dominant, white, capitalistic society, while at the same time using that religion to practice forms of protest against that same society and its "brutal" treatment of them.
Above all, the message of the authors is that African-American religion in the twentieth century has continued a process which demonstrates a remarkably dynamic, creative and adaptive approach to protest and accommodation. In this passage they quote another researcher: "Afro-American religions . . . represent a mixing and merging of African a...