Spiritual Entrepreneurs

“[A] vibrant study. . . . an intelligent take on an under-the-radar niche in the American prison system, and one that will raise eyebrows with readers interested in the intersection of faith and justice.”—Publishers Weekly

“Superb. . . . [The book] masterfully articulates historical explanations with critical ethnography, and allows us to understand both the macrostructural factors and the day-to-day ins and outs of faith-based prisons.”—Sociology of Religion

“Offers a detailed ethnographic account of one of the nation’s largest faith-based prison programs and as such is highly recommended.”—Journal of Church and State

“An excellent book that will likely be a springboard for future scholarship on faith-based prisons.”—Reading Religion

“Excellent . . . this book provides a detailed and beautifully analyzed account of the largest faith- and character-based prison program in U.S. state prisons.”—Criminal Law and Criminal Justice Books

“Stoddard provides a valuable, historically-informed portrait of a growing nexus that links state incarceration to local scenes of Christianity, and he asserts compellingly that they be theorized together. Here, we see Christianity’s fundamental effects across a Florida state institution.”–American Religion

“In this stellar book, Brad Stoddard deftly describes the private faith-based interventions taking place in state prisons and the complicated ideology of the mainly conservative politicians and evangelical Christian religious leaders who support them.”—Tanya Erzen, author of God in Captivity

“On the cutting edge of American religious studies, Spiritual Entrepreneurs breaks new ground and is a must-read work for anyone interested in the connections between neoliberalism and religion in the contemporary United States. Brad Stoddard’s engaging and detailed ethnographic approach clearly supports his well-articulated argument.”—Sean McCloud, author of American Possessions: Fighting Demons in the Contemporary United States