Professor Chidester is a prolific writer and an internationally acclaimed scholar in the field of comparative religion. His interests lie in the relationships between religion and globalisation, religion and popular culture, religion in society and the problems of social cohesion.

He has written extensively on religion in South Africa, North America, as well as on religion and education. He is a two-time winner of the American Academy of Religion's Award for Excellence in Religious Studies”. In 2005, he received the Alan Pifer Award for Social Research.