Faith, Justice, and the Workplace, with Elaine Howard Ecklund

How should Christian faith shape work in an era of pluralism, fear, and systemic inequality? Sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund (Rice University) is presenting new insights for faith at work through data, theology, and lived experience.

“People love to talk about individual ethics … but what was really hard for them to think about was, what would it mean to make our workplace better as a whole?”

In this episode, Ecklund joins Mark Labberton to reflect on moving from individual morality toward systemic responsibility, dignity, and other-centred Christian witness at work. Together they discuss faith and work, the gender and race gaps created by systemic injustice, fear and power, religious diversity, rest and human limits, gender and racial marginalization, and the cost of a credible Christian witness.

Episode Highlights

• “People love to talk about individual ethics.”
• “What would it mean to make our workplace better as a whole?”
• “People are much more apt to take us seriously if we first take them seriously.”
• “Suppression of faith in particular is not the answer.”
• “God is God and I am not.”

About Elaine Howard Ecklund

Elaine Howard Ecklund is professor of sociology at Rice University and director of the Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance. She is a leading sociologist of religion, science, and work whose research examines how faith operates in professional and institutional life. Ecklund has led large-scale empirical studies on religion in workplaces and scientific communities, supported by the National Science Foundation, Templeton Foundation, and Lilly Endowment. She is the author or co-author of several influential books, including Working for Better, Why Science and Faith Need Each Other, and Science vs. Religion. Her work informs academic, ecclesial, and public conversations about pluralism, justice, and moral formation in modern society.

Learn more and follow at https://www.elaineecklund.com and https://twitter.com/elaineecklund

Helpful Links And Resources

• Working for Better (IVP): https://www.ivpress.com/working-for-better
• Why Science and Faith Need Each Other (IVP): https://www.ivpress.com/why-science-and-faith-need-each-other
• Elaine Howard Ecklund website: https://www.elaineecklund.com
• Rice University Boniuk Institute: https://boniuk.rice.edu
• Conversing with Mark Labberton: https://comment.org/conversing

Show Notes

• Sociological study of religion, work, and group behavior
• Christian faith taken seriously at personal and academic levels
• Ecklund’s former research focus on science as a workplace environment
• Expanding faith-at-work research beyond scientific communities
• Compartmentalized Christian faith and the fear of offending colleagues
• Friendship and collaboration emerging from leadership retreats
• Large-scale data-driven study on religion in changing workplaces
• Religious pluralism at work and changing workplace demographics
• Writing for Christian audiences shaped by empirical research
• From individual ethics toward systemic responsibility at work
• “People love to talk about individual ethics.”
• Systemic injustice blind spots
• Moral shorthand focused on time sheets and office supplies
• Organizational leadership and culture change
• Difficulty imagining organizational or structural workplace change
• Fear of retaliation when confronting unjust systems
• Responsibility for workplace realities
• Power underestimated by those holding leadership positions
• Costly examples of speaking up against workplace injustice
• Christian fear of marginalization in pluralistic environments
• Suppression of religious expression as common workplace response
• Suppression versus accommodation: “Suppression of faith in particular is not the answer.”
• Religious diversity as unavoidable reality of modern work
• Other-centered faith rooted in dignity of every person
• Imago Dei shaping engagement across religious difference
• “People are much more apt to take us seriously if we first take them seriously.”
• Racialized religious minorities: the double marginalization of racial minorities of faith
• Gender inequity and underexamined workplace power dynamics
• Faith-based employee groups
• Fear masquerading as anger in cultural and religious conflict
• Workplaces as rare spaces for meaningful civic encounter
• Justice beyond activism
• Rest as theological foundation for justice and leadership
• Limits, Sabbath, and resisting productivity as ultimate value
• “God is God and I am not.”
• Human limits in leadership

Production Credits

Conversing is produced and distributed in partnership with Comment magazine and Fuller Seminary.

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