The Equality Act 2010 includes religion or belief as a protected characteristic, and further defines this as any religion or philosophical belief, including no religion or belief.
Religions can include well-known and lesser-known religions, as well as denominations within religions. It is estimated that there are over 4,000 recognised religions in the world.
This employment guide further explains the criteria by which a belief would be protected under the Act, including that it is a belief, rather than a viewpoint; has a certain level of seriousness; and is not in conflict with the rights of others. Vegetarianism, pacifism and humanism are all examples of protected beliefs.
We are currently working on our reading list for Faith, Religion and Belief.
Please get in touch if you have any recommendations to add to this list - whether already available in the Library or not!
The Library has access to several archives, both in its own Special Collections and Archives, as well as digitised collections, which cover subjects relating to faith, religion and belief, and related topics.
We've curated a list below, together with information about major collections held elsewhere (some of which are available online).
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Mass Observation Online 1937-1967This a major resource for British social history from 1937-1967. It contains material generated by the Mass Observation social research organisation, including all the day surveys, diaries and subject directives from 1937-1967, a wide range of themed topic collections, together with other material such as images and essays. We now have access to all five Mass Observation Online modules, with more coverage from the 1950s and 1960s.
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Methodism and Charles WesleyOverview of archival collections relating to Methodism.
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National Archives: religious historyGuides from the National Archives on how to research archival records relating to religious history.
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Oral histories of Jewish experience and Holocaust testomoniesOverview of oral histories relating to these topics available from the British Library.
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Oral histories of religion and beliefOverview of oral histories relating to religion and belief, available from the British Library.
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Pacifism archivesOverview of archival collections relating to pacifism and peace movements.
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Pew Research CenterThis organisation regularly publishes research, surveys and data relating to religious belief and attitudes worldwide.
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Religious Archives DirectoryDirectory of UK archives relating to religious traditions and denominations.
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Secularism and HumanismDirectory of UK archives relating to secularism and humanism.
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StatistaStatista is a collection of over 1.5 million datasets on a huge range of contemporary topics. If you're looking for data to help you research inequality, it's a great place to start.
We'll be posting resources in this section soon!
Below are some links to societies and support across campus:
