Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme

Associate Professor

sarah.wilkins-laflamme@uwaterloo.ca

PhD Sociology (University of Oxford)
MA Sociology (University of Ottawa)
BSocSc Sociology and Criminology (University of Ottawa)

PAS 2027

Research and teaching areas

Research

  • Religion, attitudes and social behaviour
  • Secularization, non-religion and non-belief
  • Social change
  • Immigration and ethnicity
  • Political sociology

Teaching

  • Quantitative methodology
  • Research methods
  • Sociology of religion
  • Contemporary sociological theory

Current research

Broadly speaking, my research focuses on national and temporal trends in religious identities and behaviour, and how various aspects of religion (belonging, beliefs and practices) influence individual social attitudes and action. More specifically, I study social differences between individuals who are religious and those who are not, and how these dynamics are evolving in contemporary Western societies.

I am currently involved in a number of funded research projects: 1) Canadian Socio-Political Cleavages in Comparative Perspective: Running the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) in Canada; 2) Secularity on the Move; 3) Nonreligion in a Complex Future.

Publications

  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S., D. Voas and K. Hewlett. 2025. “Religious Polarization in Europe.” Sociology of Religion 86(3): 303-330.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S., J. Legault-Leclair and E.-M. Meunier. 2025. “L’évolution des indicateurs de religiosité dans les traditions chrétiennes de la province du Québec : cinq décennies de déclin, d’essor et de diversification.” Pp. 15-40 in Étudier les christianismes dans un contexte de postchrétienté, edited by F. Dejean and C. Foisy. Québec: Les Presses de l’Université Laval.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2023. Religion, Spirituality and Secularity among Millennials: The Generation Shaping American and Canadian Trends. New York: Routledge.
  • Legault-Leclair, J. and S. Wilkins-Laflamme. 2023. “The Many Facets of Negative Public Opinion Towards Muslims.” Studies in Religion 52(4): 575-600.
  • Coutinho, J. P. and S. Wilkins Laflamme. 2023. “Religiously Unaffiliated Youth in Europe: Shifting Remnants of Belief and Practice in Contexts of Diffused Religion and Cohort Decline.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 63(2): 406-428.
  • Wilkins Laflamme, S. 2023. “Les attitudes des Spirituels mais non religieux envers les relations homosexuelles et les rôles de genre.” Social Compass 70(4): 581-599.
  • Coutinho, J. P. and S. Wilkins Laflamme. 2023. “Youth Religiosity in Catholic European Countries.” Journal of Religion in Europe 16(3): 316-351.
  • Bramadat, P., P. Killen, and S. Wilkins-Laflamme (eds.) 2022. Religion at the Edge: Nature, Spirituality, and Secularity in the Pacific Northwest. Vancouver, B.C.: University of British Columbia Press.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2022. “And Then There Were None: Regional Dynamics of Non-Religious Identities, Beliefs and Practices among Canadian Millennials.” Studies in Religion 52(3): 358-380.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2022. "Digital Religion Among US and Canadian Millennial Adults." Review of Religious Research 64(2): 225-248.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2022. “Second to None: Religious Non-Affiliation in the Pacific Northwest.” Pp. 100-124 in Religion at the Edge: Nature, Spirituality, and Secularity in the Pacific Northwest, edited by P. Bramadat, P. Killen and S. Wilkins-Laflamme. Vancouver: UBC Press.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. and J. Thiessen. 2022 “Are Atheists Typically Young People?” Pp. 100-104 in Atheism in 5 Minutes, edited by T. Taira. Sheffield: Equinox.
  • Thiessen, J. and S. Wilkins-Laflamme. 2022 “Do Atheists Value Some Religions More Than Other Religions?” Pp. 239-243 in Atheism in 5 Minutes, edited by T. Taira. Sheffield: Equinox.
  • Meintel, D., C. Gélinas, G. Boucher, Y. Boucher, D. Moisa and S. Wilkins-Laflamme. 2022. “Une recherche sur le religieux contemporain au Québec.” Pp. 9-24 in La pluralité religieuse au Québec, edited by D. Meintel. Montreal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2022. Canadian Religion in Global Perspective. UW Space: https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/items/22fd452b-679a-4971-8f64-e2ba53162774
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2022. Updates to “Chapter 13: Religion” in Pearson Canada’s textbook Exploring Sociology: A Canadian Perspective.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2021. “A Tale of Decline or Change? Working Toward a Complementary Understanding of Secular Transition and Individual Spiritualization Theories.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 60(3): 516-539.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2021. “The Secular Diaspora in Canada: A Research Note.” Secular Studies 3(1): 141-160.
  • Thiessen, J. and S. Wilkins-Laflamme. 2021. “Nice, Tolerant, Indifferent Canadians: Religious Nones North of the 49th.” Book chapter for The Basics: Secularism and Atheism, edited by R. T. Cragun and J. M. Smith. Bloomsbury Academic.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, S. 2021. “Le phénomène générationnel des sans religion au Québec.” Book chapter for Dits et non-dits : mémoires catholiques au Québec. Edited by G. Mossière. Montréal: Presses de l'Université de Montréal.
  • Meunier, E.-M., J.-P. Perreault and S. Wilkins-Laflamme. 2021. “Mieux comprendre l’énigme du catholicisme québécois. Quelle problématisation et quelle méthode ?” Book chapter for Dits et non-dits : mémoires catholiques au Québec. Edited by G. Mossière. Montréal: Presses de l'Université de Montréal.
  • Munro, Z. and S. Wilkins-Laflamme. 2021. “Introduction to the Special Issue: Nonreligion and Secularity in Canada.” Secular Studies 3(1): 1-6.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2020. “Like Parent, Like Millennial: Inherited and Switched (Non)Religion Among Young Adults in the USA and Canada.” Journal of Religion and Demography 7(1): 123-149.
  • Thiessen, Joel and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme. 2020. None of the Above: Nonreligious Identity in the U.S. and Canada. New York:New York University Press.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah and Joel Thiessen. 2020. “Religious Socialization and Millennial Involvement in Organized and Digital Nonbelief Activities.” Secularism and Nonreligion 9(2): 1-15.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2020. “De nouveaux enjeux pour la recherche sur le paysage religieux québécois : l’apport des études quantitatives.” Book chapter in Étudier la religion au Québec. Regards d’ici et d’ailleurs. Edited by David Koussens, Jean-François Laniel and Jean-Philippe Perreault. Quebec City: Presses de l'Université Laval.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah and Sam Reimer. 2019. “Religion and Grassroots Social Conservatism in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 54(4): 865-881.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2019. Religion, Non-Belief, Spirituality and Social Behaviour among North American Millennials. Available for free access at: https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/15102
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2018. “Islamophobia in Canada: Measuring the Realities of Negative Attitudes towards Muslims and Religious Discrimination.” Canadian Review of Sociology 55(1): 86-110.
  • Thiessen, Joel and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme. 2017. “Becoming a Religious None: Irreligious Socialization and Disaffiliation.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 56(1): 64-82.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2018. The Religious, Spiritual, Secular and Social Landscapes of the Pacific Northwest – Part 2. Available for free access at: https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/13406
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah, Martin Geoffroy, Louis Audet Gosselin, Katherine Bouchard and Steve Medeiros. 2018. Connaissances et perceptions de la religion et du phénomène de la radicalisation chez les étudiant(e)s du collégial. Available for free access at: https://cefir.cegepmontpetit.ca/2018/05/16/connaissances-et-perceptions-de-la-religion-et-du-phenomene-de-la-radicalisation-chez-les-etudiantes-du-collegial-2018/
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2017. “Religious-Secular Polarization Compared: The Cases of Quebec and British Columbia.” Studies in Religion 48(2): 166-185.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2017. The Religious, Spiritual, Secular and Social Landscapes of the Pacific Northwest – Part 1. Available for free access at: https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/handle/10012/12218
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2016. “Secularization and the Wider Gap in Values and Personal Religiosity between the Religious and Non-Religious.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 55(4): 717-736.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2016. “The Remaining Core: A Fresh Look at Religiosity Trends in Great Britain.” British Journal of Sociology 67(4): 632-654.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2016. “The Changing Religious Cleavage in Canadians’ Voting Behaviour.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 49(3): 499-518.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2016. “Protestant and Catholic Distinctions in Secularization.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 31(2): 165-180.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2015. "Une question de religion ou de culture? Convergences et divergences religieuses entre anglophones et francophones québécois depuis 1985.” Book chapter in Catholicisme et cultures : Regards croisés Québec-France. Edited by Solange Lefebvre, Céline Béraud and E.-Martin Meunier. Québec: Presses de l’Université Laval.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2015. “How Unreligious are the Religious ‘Nones’? Religious Dynamics of the Unaffiliated in Canada.” Canadian Journal of Sociology 40(4): 477-500.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2014. “Towards Religious Polarization? Time Effects on Religious Commitment in US, UK and Canadian Regions.” Sociology of Religion 75(2): 284-308.
  • Meunier, E.-Martin, Sarah Wilkins Laflamme and Véronique Grenier. 2013. “La langue gardienne de la religion / La religion gardienne de la langue? Note sur la permanence et recomposition du catholicisme au Québec et dans la francophonie canadienne.” Translated as: “Language as a Guardian of Religion / Religion as a Guardian of Language? Notes on the Permanence and Recomposition of Catholicism in Quebec and French-Speaking Canada.” Francophonies d’Amérique 36: 13-40.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2012. “Normalizing Denominational Statistics with Demographic Data: The Case of the United Church of Canada.” Canadian Review of Sociology 49(2): 173-187.
  • Meunier, E.-Martin and Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme. 2011. “Sécularisation, catholicisme et transformation du régime de religiosité au Québec. Étude comparative avec le catholicisme au Canada (1968-2007).” Translated as: “Secularization, Catholicism and the Transformation of the Religiosity Regime in Quebec. A Comparative Study with Catholicism in the Rest of Canada (1968-2007).” Recherches sociographiques 52(3): 683-729.
  • Wilkins-Laflamme, Sarah. 2011. “Les Églises unie et anglicane au Québec anglophone : enjeux contemporains.” Translated as: ”The United and Anglican Churches in Anglophone Quebec: Contemporary Dynamics.” Journal of Eastern Township Studies 36(1): 55-68.