Religion as Custom and Political Resistance: An Unorthodox Interpretation of EP Thompson’sThe Making of the English Working Class

Abstract

While EP Thompson recognizes the regressive potential of popular religion, his work also makes it possible to evaluate this cultural scheme as a vehicle of political resistance. This article seeks to make a case for the significance of popular religion in a politics of resistance through an unorthodox interpretation of The Making of the English Working Class. A close reading of the history of orthodox and sectarian Methodism presented in this work reveals popular religion as a contentious custom and a vehicle of political resistance.