SCLY3 Beliefs
Revision Cards
2014
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Awwwwww…….so cute…love it hun !!!
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The specification at a glance
Relationship between
religious belief and social
change and stability
• Functionalism
• Marxism
• Weber
• Neo-Marxism
• Feminism
• Fundamentalism
Religious organisations and
their relationship to
religious spiritual belief and
practice
• Types of religious
organisation (church,
denomination, sects,
cults)
• NRMs and NAMs
(compare each)
The significance of religion
and religiosity in the
contemporary world,
including secularisation in a
global context
• Globalisation
• Fundamentalism
• Postmodernism
• Secularisation (ways of
defining/measuring +
arguments for/against).
The relationship between
different social groups and
religious organisations,
beliefs and practices
• Reasons why people join
NRMs etc
• Gender and religion
• Ethnicity and religion
• Social class and religion
• Age and religion
Different theories of
ideology, science and
religion
• Theories of ideology
• Science as a belief
system
• Links to ‘role of religion’
theories
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Contents
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Role of Religion
Religion and Social Change
Religious organisations (incl. NRMs etc)
Gender and religion
Ethnicity and religion
Age and religion
Social Class and religion
Postmodernism/globalisation
Ideology and Science
Secularisation
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1. Role of Religion
Positive functions
Negative functions
Functionalist
• Maintains value consensus
• Social integration – social glue
• Source of identity
• Maintains social order –
stability = prevents change
• Cope with uncertainty and life
crisis
Marxist
• Maintain capitalism
• Legitimation of authority
• Transmission of ruling class
ideology
• Compensation
• A form of alienation
• Social control
New Right
• Promote moral values
Feminism
• Supporting patriarchy
• Maintaining traditional roles
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Functionalist
Studies
Evaluation
Durkheim
• Totemism = identity/values
• Collective worship - Social glue
• Shared rituals = The collective
conscience and integration
• Sacred and profane
•
•
Bellah
• Civil religion
• National identity (Americanism)
Malinowski
• Explain the unexplained
• Help cope with uncertainty
• Reduce tension in ‘life crises’
• Rites of passage/rituals
Parsons
• Core values/central value system
• Reinforce and promote norms
• Generalisation
• Prevents anomie (life crises)
Religion as a source of
harmony/stability
•
•
•
Pluralism – shared values?
Only relevant to small-scale
societies
Religion can cause conflict and
divide people
Secularisation = less important
Privatisation of religion
‘believing without belonging’
•
Other sources of comfort
today
•
People not regulated by
morality any more
Religion can cause
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social change/conflict
Marxist
Studies
Evaluation
Karl Marx
• Religion promotes dominant ideology
• Opium of the people – eases the pains
of oppression
• Religion legitimating the power of the
ruling class
• Social control – hell as punishment
• Religion is only an opium
if people believe it
• Secularisation = less
belief
• Religion can support the
oppressed = revolution
• Socialist countries still
religious
• Where did religion come
from?
• Benefits of religion (ie,
funerals/hope)
Budd
• Victorian capitalism – Protestantism
encouraging hard work/please God
Lenin
• Spiritual gin
Leach
• CofE Bishops = 80% public school
• CofE = Tory party at prayer
Religion as a source of
compensation
• Bliss in the after life
• Supernatural intervention
• Explains/justifies inequality
• Virtue of suffering
Social Control
Legitimation
Ideology
Compensation
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MARXIST
VIEW
Examples of religion
supporting capitalism
Examples of religions
Impact
• Divine Right of Kings
Legitimate hierarchy and obedience,
punishment if not conform
• Hindu Caste System
Legitimation and social control –
reproduce social inequality
• ‘All things bright and beautiful
Legitimation of class differences
• Victorian protestantism
Work hard or displease God
• Slavery and Christianity
Compensation – afterlife - bliss
Creates obedient, docile workers
Correspondence
principle
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Studies/examples
Neo-Marxists
(examples of
religion as a
form of
resistance)
Evaluation
Gramsci
• Counter-hegemony
• Organic intellectuals
Maduro
• Liberation theology – Latin
America
• Catholic priests fighting
dictatorship and defending
the poor
Iran 1979
• Islamic revolution led by
Ayatollah Khomeini against
the western ‘Shah’ of Iran
Martin Luther King Jr
• Black civil rights movement
• Agape – love all equally
Methodism & Labour Party
• Worker’s rights/equality
• Jesus – love thy neighbour,
help the needy
•
Pope disproved of these
priests and advised them to
stop
•
Was this conservative…
reactionary?
•
Not really encouraged
‘revolutions’ just minor
changes
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Feminist
Studies
Evaluation
Religious organisations
Woodhead
• forms of religious
feminism- gain status
• Veil = symbol against
oppression
• Karen Armstrong/Woodhead –
exclusion from priesthood
• Male domination/abuse in sects
Places of worship
• Segregation
• Restricted involvement
• Holm – devaluation of women
Sacred texts
• Stereotypes/gender roles
• Expectations (Mother Mary , Eve,
Delilah  )
• Qur’an ‘men in charge of women’
Religious laws/customs
• Fewer rights for women
• Genital mutilation/veiling (‘mobile
prison’ Burchill)
• Domestic/reproductive expectations
• Sexual expectations (marriage/virgin)
• Daly – male/sado rituals
•
•
•
Simone de Beauvoir – compensation
Anderson & Gordon – witchcraft
Armstrong – decline of the Goddess
El Sadawi – religion is not
problem…only men hijacking
organised religion
Holm & Bowker – forerunner
of feminist movement (orgs
led by women)
• High levels of female
religiosity
• Women and NAMs
• Female priests now
• Fundamentalism offers
protection/respect
• Women rabbis since 1972
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• Quakerism – fair
2. Religion & Social Change
Religion Preventing Change
Functionalism
•
Maintain social order
•
Reinforce shared values
•
Source of identity
•
Source of meaning
•
Emotional security
Marxist
Others
•
Legitimates power and
authority of ruling class
Feminism
• Maintains patriarchy
•
Prevent rebellion
•
•
Compensation
Reinforce gender roles
Fundamentalism
(see slide)
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2. Religion & Social Change
Fundamentalism: Conflict & Social Change
Fundamentalism – ‘patterns of religious militancy by which self-styled true believers attempt to
arrest religious identity…and create viable alternatives to secular institutions and behaviour’
(Almond et al)….(response to religion being watered down – return to tradition/authentic religion)
Features
• Response to secularisation
• Distrust of other faiths/dogmatic
• Follow a single sacred text
Examples
• New Christian Right
• Al Qaeda
• Hamas
Causes Conflict
• Distrust/intolerant of other religions = threat to their religion
• Tension with other followers of their religion – ‘sell outs!’
Prevent social change/conservative force
• Want to reverse social changes (moral decay) and CHANGE society (but backwards) –
reactionary force
Secularisation (the cause of Fundamentalism) - BRUCE
Fundamentalism will grow when in societies where:
• There is a ready supply of followers- poor
• politics fails citizens – no voice
• no central authority controlling religion
• followers have a ‘common enemy’
Islam and the West
• Modernising too rapidly and
ignoring needs of the poor =
resentment against West
• Led to rise of fundamentalism
(Armstrong)
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2. Religion & Social Change
Religion Promoting Change
Weber
Protestant ethic led to rise of capitalism
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
At war with Marx’s ghost
Social action theory - ideas
Comparative analysis – causes of
industrialisation
Calvinist Protestantism = ascetic
The elect/ A calling
Abstinence/austerity/self-discipline
Make money/being frugal – please God
Hard work/investment
Rational behaviour = efficient and
industrious (time is money)
Evaluation
• Calvinism = against wealth creation
• Some Calvinist nations = slow develop
• Industry before Calvinism (Kautsky)
• Exclusionism = motive to survive
Neo-Marxist
Antonio Gramsci – counter hegemony
‘a voice for the oppressed’
Ernst Bloch – utopia ‘principle of hope’ (a
vision of a better world)
G K Nelson notes where religion is antiestablishment:
•
•
•
•
•
•
US civil rights movt – MLK
Iran 1979 – Islamic revolution
Labour Party and Methodism
Maduro – Liberation Theology
Poland 1980s – Solidarity movement
Levellers/diggers = early Trades Unions
More recently
•
•
9/11 = impact on US foreign policy (2001)
US ‘militant militia’ bombings in Oklahoma
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(1995) – Christian Fundamentalist
2. Religion & Social Change
Other considerations
Conservative force
•
Cultural defence (Bruce)
•
Taliban in Afghanistan – ultra
conservative- defending traditional
values (reactionary)
•
Postmodernity and uncertainty make
religions certainties attractive
•
Most religions are conservative where
moral issues are concerned – reinforce
family values
New Christian Right (Bruce):
• Politically/Morally conservative in USA
• Anti-abortion/homosexuality/divorce/welfare
• Traditional family values/gender roles
• Televangelism/moral majority
Social change
Religion and conflict
• Protestants & Catholics
• Israelis and Palestinians
• Catholics and Muslims in Bosnia
More recently
•
•
9/11 = impact on US foreign policy (2001)
US ‘militant militia’ bombings in Oklahoma
(1995) – Christian Fundamentalist
McGuire – factors for a religion causing change:
• Strong moral code – followers critical of soc.
• Religious beliefs are central to culture
• Religious orgs play role in politics/economics
Huntington – globalisation:
• Clash of civilisations in global context
• Religious identities growing in importance –
cultural defence
• Eg) Islam and the West (9/11)
Reactionary = conservative change
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2. Religion & Social Change (bring together)
WEBER
Functionalism
Religion
promote social
change
yes
Feminism
no
Marxism
NEO-MARXISTS
Other considerations
•
•
•
•
•
Fundamentalism
Different NRMS
Cultural defence
Religion causing conflict
Clash of civilisations
McGuire
Factors affecting
whether religion can
cause social change
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3. Religious organisations
Typologies – at a glance
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3. Religious Organisation
Church and Sect
•
1931 Troeltsch distinguish between a church & a sect.
Church
• Universal
• Linked to state ( esp. in middle Ages)
• Large institutions (hierarchy/bureaucracy)
• Respectable
• Claimed monopoly of religious truth
• Conservative
• Place few demands on members
Sects
• Exclusive
• Small
• Demand commitment of members
• Hostile to wider society
• Recruit from poor/oppressed
• Charismatic leadership
• Monopoly of religious truth
Evaluation of ‘church’ typology
• Bruce – pre-modern societies
• Religious pluralism in Christianity (no
single church)
• Today – not majority membership
• Today – not always support state
(growing tension between church/state)
• Today – not always conservative
• Today – pluralism – no claim on
monopoly of truth - ecumenicalism
Evaluation of ‘sect’ typology
• World Affirming Sects – low demand
• Self-religions – pro society
• Many are like bureaucracies/structure
• Some are quite large (almost like
denominations)
• Middle class attracted to some sects
Churches appear to be declining…sects increasing
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3. Religious Organisation
Denomination and Cult
•
H.R. Neibuhr (1929) was the first to distinguish clearly between denominations & churches.
Denominations
• Does not have universal appeal
• Draws members from all social classes
(but more from working class/lower middle class
• Does not identify with the state (but conservative)
• Do not claim a monopoly on religious truth
• Formal and bureaucratic structure
Cults
• Least organised religious group
• Highly individualistic
• Small
• Loose-knit groupings
• Clearly defined belief system
• No monopoly on the truth/tolerate others beliefs
• Mysticism (world-affirming) – spiritual powers
Since 1960s – term
cults replaced with
‘New Religious
Movements’
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New religious movements since 1970s = new categories needed.
Wallis defines them in terms of
(a) relationship to the outside world
(b) whether they reject/affirm/accommodate the
world
New Religious Movements - (Roy Wallis)
World Rejecting
•
•
•
•
•
•
Oppose wider world and
see it as evil.
members to separate from
the outside world.
Communes
Charismatic leader
Total institutions – control
Ascetic lifestyle – austere
Examples
• People’s Temple
• Moonies
• Children of God
World
Accommodating
World Affirming
• Remain within wider society
• Critical of the secular
nature of society
• Help followers raise
awareness of their ‘inner
power’.
• Deep morality
• They stress that religion is
more a personal matter.
•
•
Examples
• Neo-Pentecostalist
• Subud
Examples
• TM
• EST
• Scientology
Evaluation points (from Beckford):
• Difficult to apply categories
• Ignores diversity of views ‘within’ a sect/cult
•
•
Positive about the world
Help people unlock their
spiritual powers/reach
fulfilment
Live ‘normal’ lives – access
services
No collective worship/ no
morality
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3. Religious Organisation
Sects & Cults
(Stark & Bainbridge)
The main distinction between different religious organisations = degree
of tension between the religion & wider society
Sects
Cults can be divided into:
•
Audience cults
• least organised,
• no formal membership
•
Breakaways from existing religious
organisations
Offer ‘other-worldly’ benefits, ie)
compensation, theodicy of
disprivilege
Cults
•
•
•
New religions
Or ‘imported’ religions
Offer ‘this-worldly’ benefits, ie)
unlock inner spiritual powers,
psychic healing, self-improvement
Client Cults
• Exchange service/therapies
• Client/consultant relationship
• Self-improvement/fulfilment
Cultic movements
• Organised
• Exclusivist
• Expect high levels of commitment
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3. Reasons for growth of NRMs (at a glance)
Factors
Disillusionment with
traditional religions
Deprivation
Range
Summary
•
Resacrilisation
•
Authentic/exciting
•
Economic deprivation
(MARGINALITY)
•
Poverty/theodicy of disprivilege
•
Status deprivation
•
Denied status/see self as failures
compared to others
•
Rapid change = anomie/uncertainty
(RELATIVE DEPRIVATION)
Social Change
•
Organismic deprivation
•
Ethical deprivation
•
Psychic deprivation
•
•
•
•
Industrialisation
1960s
Millenium
Postmodernism
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3. Reasons for growth of NRMs
Explanation
Disillusionment with
traditional religions
Details
•
•
•
•
Marginality
•
•
•
•
Relative deprivation
•
•
•
NRMs appeal to young – offer a more
spiritual/caring way of life (Wallis)
Heelas – rediscover inner self/potential
Weber – re-enchantment – ‘other world’ – as
trad. Relig = watered down faith.. ’this world’
Nelson – more genuine/joyful/less formal
Weber – theodicy of disprivilege for deprived
groups
World rejecting sects
Comfort for those ‘left out’ by society
Offer hope/promise of reward
•
But most members of WRS are
middle class, white youths.
Where many middle class people feel
‘deprived socially’ (lack community, love,
belonging)
See world as ‘too materialistic’, lonely and
impersonal (spiritually deprived)
Status frustration – world rejecting =
support, identity, independence (suits young)
•
In contemporary society – new
sources of belonging, identity and
expression (online
communities/social networking)
•
Status frustration = short lived
Other forms of
deprivation
•
Glock & Stark – social deprivation,
organismic, ethical and psychic deprivation
(SEE NEXT CARD)
Social Change
•
Wilson – reactionary/desire for stability and
morality (end to anomie)
Sects = community/security
Re-enchantment -‘scientif./modern’ age
Crisis of meaning (Bellah) – middle class lost!
•
•
•
Evaluation
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3. Reasons for growth of NRMs – GLOCK & STARK
(deprivation)
Type of deprivation
Economic
Details
•
•
•
Status
•
•
•
•
appeal to those at the ‘bottom’ of society. These people are ‘marginal’
(Weber, 1922). People lack status and power (marginality).
Offer a ‘theodicy of disprivilege’ (explains and justifies why they are poor).
This may give members a feeling of superiority – the chosen few!
Some sects appeal to skilled working class people/white collar employees
They join because they lack power/status/ satisfaction in their work. These
are examples of ‘relative deprivation’
Compensate for boring/dead-end jobs
Gain the status ‘they think they deserve’
Organismic
•
•
•
•
Those who suffer from physical, mental and addiction problems may turn to
sects
Hope of being healed
Seeking personal fulfilment
Seeking change in their lives
EThical
•
•
•
•
•
World in moral decline
Retreat into fundamentalism
Feel threatened by liberal values/progress
Reject the modern world as the ‘Devil’s work’, ie) Amish/Plymouth Brethren
Some are concerned with nature/ environment. May turn to NAMs
Psychic
•
•
•
Some reject dominant values of consumerism and individualism.
May not lack material wealth .but feel spiritually deprived = middle class.
They see world as too materialistic, lonely and impersonal. This has been
described as ‘relative deprivation’.
Appeal of cults/sects based on Eastern mysticism, eg) Hare Krishna
•
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3. Growth of NRMs (bring together)
NRMS
NAMS
Define/describe
Cults/Sects
Social Change
Wilson
•
•
•
Why have
NRMS grown in
recent years?
Anomie
Uncertainty – crisis of
meaning
Traditional morality
desired
Glock & Stark
• Organismic
• Psychic
• Ethical
Other
Forms of
deprivation
Disillusioned
with traditional
religion
Authentic,
joyful, caring
Relative
deprivation
•
•
•
•
Marginality
Lack community
Status frustration
Feel ‘something missing’
Spiritually deprived
•
•
Weber
• Theodicy of
dispriv.
World Rejecting Sects
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Millenarian Movts
3. ARE SECTS ‘SHORT-LIVED’ ?
Arguments for sects
being short-lived
Arguments against sects
being short-lived
Hard to maintain commitment & Fervour (Barker)
• Neibuhr – problem beyond 1st generation – parent
converts struggle to socialize children into faith
• Sects dies of becomes denomination (Neibuhr)
• Less radical – members live normal lives
• Becker - ‘ denomination = a sect cooled down’
Eval: Aldridge – many sects survive long time/sects
can maintain standards & expel non-conformists/
Amish = long term = socialised youth
Loss of charismatic leader
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4. Gender & Religiosity
Why women are more religious than men
Explanations
Socialisation and role
expectation
In brief
•
•
•
•
•
Submissive/passive/caring roles/close to birth, death/not take
risks/wife & mother (Miller & Hoffman)
Guardians of family life/defend tradition/children’s moral
development
God = caring/love/feminine (Davie)
Roles – close to childbirth/caring jobs (Greeley) and close to
birth and death (Davie)
Secularisation + retreat to private sphere/privatisation (Bruce)
– W/C women (trad relig)….M/C women (new age)
Women and the new age
•
Healing role,caring/stability of trad. Role in postmodern
age/desire for autonomy/Mother Earth/therapies/healing
(Glendinning & Bruce)
Life expectancy
•
•
Widowed/support/life events/ultimate Qs
Church becomes a key source of identity
Social deprivation &
marginality
•
Poverty/family problems/compensati0n/ theodicy of dispriv./
ethical deprivation/seek self improvement/ isolation in the home
Status frustration
•
Unfulfilled/self-improvement/compensation
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Studies
Socialisation
and role
expectation
•
•
•
•
Miller & Hoffman
Greely
Bruce
Davie
Women and
the new age
•
•
•
Woodhead and Heelas
Hawley
Brown
Life
expectancy
•
Davie
Social
deprivation &
marginality
•
•
•
Thompson
Glock & Stark
Weber
Status
frustration
•
•
Puttick
Bruce
Evaluation
•
Many women accept traditional role
(fundamentalism)
•
Social class/ethnic differences
•
Postmodernity and declining ‘gender’
differences
•
New age mainly a M/C luxury/ Working
class women not covered/expensive
products
•
Other ways of experiencing
identity/fulfilment today
•
Other sources of comfort today
•
Secularisation
Puttick (1997) - ‘women have always been the greatest consumers of religion’
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Women and NRMs/NAMs
Explanations
In brief
Sects/Cults
•
Role of women in sects
•
More important
•
NAMS – healing/spiritual
•
Appeal of healing/spiritual nature
•
Self-improvement
•
•
Self critical/develop the self (Puttick)
Individualised/privatised/’cult of Narcissism)
•
Marginality
•
•
•
Poverty/deprivation (Bruce)
Hope and salvation (Thompson)
Different types of deprivation (Glock and Stark
– social/organic/ethical)
NAMs
•
Close to nature
•
Essential femininity/caring/homeopathy/fertility/
neo-ecology
•
Child bearing
•
Fertility/caring (Bruce)
•
Middle class needs
•
•
•
Commitment/money/time (Bruce)
Linked to educational success
Psychological underprivilege
28
4. EThnicity & Religiosity
Why ethnic minorities are more religious than others?
In brief
Explanations
•
Community cohesion &
identity
•
Functionalist in flavour = shared values/identity
Identity = dress/language/diet (ethnic identity)
Community = places of worship/support
Source of socialisation/maintain tradition
Sense of stability..protect identity in a hostile
environment (cultural defence/cultural transition)
Help cope with migration
•
•
•
•
•
•
Social deprivation,
marginality & status
frustration
•
•
•
•
•
Lack status/frustration
Religion = identity
Mainstream society = low status/rejection
Cope with Poverty/unemployment/racism
Comfort/compensation – ‘opiate’/’theodicy of dispriv.’
•
Family structures
•
•
Tight community/extended families = pressure to
conform/maintain tradition
Traditional culture carried on in UK (socialisation)
•
•
•
Identity overcomes status denied by racism
Festivals and customs impportant
Blending traditions/British culture (‘Brasians’)
•
Social identity
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4. EThnicity & Religiosity
Why ethnic minorities are more religious than others?
Studies
Grace Davie – (tradition/
identity/cohesion)
Steve Bruce – (cultural
defence/cultural transition)
Modood et al – (socialisation/
maintain traditions)
Evaluation
•
Secularisation will erode religious commitment
•
Once settled into UK – no longer need support
of religion/community
•
3rd generation – cultural change, ie) Brasians
•
Globalisation – traditions eroded on global scale
John Bird – (community
solidarity/identity/coping)
Chryssides - (accomodation)
Kepel - (religious revival)
Johal – (hybrid/Brasians)
Butler – (hybrid/identity)
Jacobson – (identity/stability)
Remember to note the differences
between Afro-Caribbean and
Pakistani/Bangladeshi religiosity
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Steve Bruce - Cultural defence and Cultural Transition
Cultural Defence





Cultural Transition
Religion is a source of support and

offers a sense of cultural identity in an
uncertain or hostile environment.

Bird(1999) – religion = basis of
community solidarity (like Durkheim)
A means of preserving one’s
culture/language
A way of coping with oppression in a
racist society.
Religion is a means of easing transition
into a new culture
Assimilation

Provide support and a sense of
community

Herberg (1955) – USA and first
generation immigrants

Bruce – similar pattern in UK.

Pentecostalism – a protestant ethic for
many West Indian citizens (Pryce)

Pentecostalism – evangelical – belief in
personal conversion

Once a group has made transition –
religion loses its role/decline in
importance
Non-assimilation
4. Age & Religiosity
Which age groups are most religious?
Older people (more)
Disengagement
• Detached from wider society =
privatisation/isolation
• Church = support/network
Socialisation
• More likely to had religious socialisation
• Sunday schools/education/wider family
• (the generational effect)
Ill-health and death
• Sickness/concern for death = close to God
(the ageing effect- Heelas ‘Kendal Project’)
• Witness death/funerals
• Church = comfort/support/’meaning’
Younger people (less)
Mainstream religion losing attraction
• Church = Boring/old fashioned
• Issues (abortion/contraception/gay sexuality)
are seen differently by youth..clash of values
• ‘CofE -an old lady..ignored most of the time’
Expanding spiritual marketplace
• Alternative faiths (pluralism) – build beliefs,
identity, lifestyles – crystals/yoga (Lynch)
Privatisation of belief
• Believing without belonging (Davie)
• Not belong to any organised collective
Secular spirituality
• Spirituality -new ways (Lynch)
Decline in religious education/socialisation
• Decline of Sunday schools/RE in ed. (Bruce)
• Generational effect – less socialisation (Voas
& Crockett)/(Gill)
Under 15s high
• Parental pressure
Pragmatic reasons
• Leisure – shops/clubs/pubs
• Religious = uncool/peer pressure
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4. Age & Religiosity
Why age groups are more religious than others?
Studies
Brierley
• average age = 37
• Very few 15-19 year olds
Heelas
• NAMS = middle aged/older
Voas & Crockett
• Life experiences - Having
children = parents want to
socialise own children
(rediscover religion)
• Period effect – born in
certain era = more religious
• Secularisation = each
generation less religious
Gill
• Less socialisation = not
churchgoing
Evaluation
•
Some ethnic groups are highly religious
•
Some young men are more likely to be more
radicalised (within Islam) – Choudhury
•
Young Afro-Caribbeans attracted to Baptist
and Pentecostal churches = lively (Nelson)
•
Gender differences not considered
•
Youth see selves as ‘invincible’ and not need
religion to cope in their lives
•
Religion no longer a key source of identity on
Pomo age
•
Some parents are keen to socialise children to
maintain tradition/cope with uncertain times
•
Appeal of World Rejecting Sects to youths
33
(face uncertainty/anomie)
4. Social Class & Religiosity
Which faiths do different social classes join?
Working class
•
•
Denominations
(respectable) – upper
working class
Sects – (world rejecting
NRMs) - radical message
- disadvantaged
members of society –
theodicy of disprivilege,
compensation
Middle class
Upper class
•
Church (tradition and
conservative ideology)
•
Church (tradition and
conservative ideology)
•
Denominations
(respectable) – lower
middle class
•
Church (80% bishops =
Public Schools)/Tory
Party at prayer
•
Cults (world affirming
NRMS) – self
improvement
•
Cults (world rejecting
sects) – relative
deprivation
•
NAMS – selfimprovement
34
5. Religion, Renewal and Choice
(postmodernism and other stuff)
Recent changes
Issues
Postmodernity & Religion
In brief
•
•
•
Believing without belonging
Spiritual shopping
Impact of media and consumption
Religious Market Theory
Existential Security Theory
35
5. Religion, Renewal and Choice
(postmodernism and other stuff)
What is Postmodernism all about?
Key ideas
Moving on beyond the ‘modern’ era
(disillusioned with progress
In brief
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Modern era = science, rationality, structure, control,
tradition, improve the world, enlightenment
Lyotard – decline of grand theories/metanarratives –
disillusionment with science and other belief systems
People have greater choice (Bauman)
Bauman – people no longer seek universal truths – ‘loss
of trust in modernity’
Morality becomes ‘privatised’ –no certainties
Greater pluralism in society = no absolutes
Loss of guidance in life (Baudrillard)
De-traditionalisation
•
Globalisation = no longer guided by traditional
structures and expectations (Giddens)
Consumption is all
•
•
•
Surrounded by media/communication (Baudrillard)
Simulacra (simulated realities) and hyper-realities
where image= everything – no substance
Consumption of symbols = construct our identities
•
•
Individual self is fluid (Bauman)
Changing identities/constructing selves
Transformation of the self
36
Postmodernity & religion
Studies
Evaluation
Believing without belonging
•
Davie – privatised faith – personal choice/no
pressure to conform
•
Traditional religion decline – personal faith grows
•
‘vicarious religion’ – now a small number of clergy
serving many people (less local/communal)
•
Church still focal point for rites of passage
•
Cultural defence = identity
•
Globalisation is not a universal phenomena –
affects some countries more than others
•
Rites of passage still surround key life-crises in
people’s lives
Spiritual shopping
•
Hervieu-Leger – personal choice
•
Cultural amnesia – lose tradition/collective memory
•
Pluralism = equality = faith no imposed/backed by
state = loss of relig. Identity for youth
•
Now consumers = shop around – individualised DIY
•
Pilgrims (self discovery) + Converts (community)
•
People still need answers to ‘eternal questions’
•
Beckford – religion has remained strong through
history
•
Voas & Crockett – both belief in God and
attendance are declining
Bruce - If authentic in belief – they would be more
involved…..belief and attendance fall together
Impact of media & consumerism
•
Lyon – Jesus in Disneyland
•
Relocation of religion (globalisation = beyond nat.
boundaries) – media images – instant access – ideas
disembedded from context – religious signs become
free floating in cyberspace – individuals adapt them
•
Religious consumerism – (construct own identity
from what we consume) – pick and mix – religion is
now a consumable – rather than a complete faith –
as consumer – we are in control – no authority
•
Re-enchantment of the world recently
•
Jesus in Disneyland – religion moving into world of
consumption (harvest day crusade at Disneyland –
distinction between religion/popular culture
blurring
•
•
Does the media shape religiosity? – people view
religious media that reinforces existing
beliefs..not entertain new ones!
•
How significant are online churches/faiths ?
•
Bruce – these ‘consumerist religions’ are weak –
insignificant.
37
Postmodernity & NRMs/NAMs
Ideas/Studies
Evaluation
• Hybridity = NRMs/NAMs blending religions
•
NAMs/NRMS are still minority faiths
• Choice and consumption (Bruce) – identity –
NAMs etc define individuals – statements
about who you aspire to be/what you are
•
NAMs manly enjoyed by middle classes and
women (not universal appeal)
•
Tradition is still important culturally
•
Cyber-religions = more entertainment than
faith
• Spirituality in everyday life –
environmentalism etc
• Detraditionalisation – (Giddens) – many new
ideas –pluralism – blending together – not
tradition
(see other evaluation points)
• Self-Orientation – (Heelas) – self
improvement – unlock inner potential (World
Affirming Sects) – self as spiritual = self
realisation (NAMs) – (Lasch) – cult of
Narcissism
• Religion and ICT – internet allows a global
audience – virtual religions – ‘cyber
communities’ – spiritual services – belief
without belonging
• Organisation of religion – (Clegg) – flexible,
niche markets, less rigid structures
38
Further impact on religion
Impact
In brief
Religious symbols lose their meaning
•
Traditional symbols – disembedded from context
Spiritual choice/no absolutes
•
Choices to suit our identity and personal search for
meaning in life
Hybridity and ‘pick n Mix’
•
Personal choice to suit lifestyle = individual interpretation
•
•
•
Immigration and movement around globe = pluralism
Internet and no boundaries
People not follow traditions (national boundaries)
•
Moral vacuum – many need certainty and security
•
•
Rise of privatised faith
Self-religions = personal focus = self-improvement
Globalisation – split faith from
cultures/locations
Rise of fundamentalism
Decline of collective worship
39
Religious Market Theory
Studies
Stark & Bainbridge – (rational choice theory)
• Anti-secularisation theory
• Unclear when the golden age was
Evaluation
•
Overemphasis on consumer choice
•
Does competition = demand for religion?
Bruce – diversity/pluralism = decline.
•
They misrepresent secularisation theory
– it just claims religion is in long term
decline (not universal – just Europe/USA
• Religion = attractive = ‘supernatural
compensators’ when real life rewards fail us
•
• There is a life-cycle for religions (declinerevival-renewal) = churches fall off – sects
splinter off – denominationalise = church
High levels of religiosity in Catholic
countries where church has a monopoly
(no choice)
•
Claiming people are ‘naturally religious’ is
unsociological (Beckford)
The religious market theory claims:
• Religion meets humans’ need/naturally religious
• People make rational choices (costs/benefits)
• Competition between religions is healthy –
forces them to adapt/re-market selves for new
customers
• Demand for religion increases when there is
choice
40
Existential Security Theory
Studies
Norris & Inglehart – reject religious market
theory – only fits USA.
•
•
There is variety between societies
The significance of a religion is society
depends on the level of ‘existential security’
in a society (feeling of certainty/security)
•
Low-income (poor) countries and groups =
insecure = need for religion (hope/
compensation)
Rich countries + groups = more secure =
less need for religion
•
•
•
•
Evaluation
•
Vasquez – over-focused on quantitative
data and do not explore personal meanings
and ‘feelings of security’ etc
•
Religion only seen as a negative response to
deprivation – ignores positive appeal
•
Ignores appeal of religion to wealthy and
successful people
Europe is getting more equal (so more
secular)
USA (high inequality) = more religious
Gill supports this – high welfare spending =
less religious
41
5. Globalisation & Religion
Why is globalisation important?
Societies are becoming
more closely connected
Empires and Colonies
(religious conflict, diversity and
change)
(one state dominates another =
religion and cultural defence and
resistance)
Cultural change from
globalisation
Religious ideas + economic
growth
(rise of fundamentalism – defend
values – desire certainty)
Key issues:
• Religion and development
• Fundamentalism
• Cultural defence
• Clash of civilisations
(economic development -like Weber)
42
5. Globalisation & Religion
Religion and Development
Issues/Evidence
•
•
Secularisation argues development damages
religion …and religion can cause development
Weber – Protestant Ethic & Spirit of Capitalism
(rationality/ascetic)
Evaluation
•
Faith alone is not capable of creating
economic growth – need resources in
place
Nanda – India – growth – rise of middle class –
impact of Hinduism & nationalism
Hinduism & consumerism
Urban educated middle class = growing more
religious – tension between having wealth and Hindu
belief in ‘giving up wealth’..leads to uncertainty
Tension overcome by:
(1) holy men with new message about wealth (like
Calvinism)
(2) Business-friendly Hinduism legitimates m/c
consumerism
(3) Hinduism backs idea of success being a
nationalistic matter- India=winner in global mkt
(4) Hinduism in public life, ie) Hindu sciences
(5) m/c paying poor for religious rituals (charity?)
Pentecostalism (Latin America)
Berger – like Calvinism – hard work/ascetic/hard
work/ self discipline/work ethic/poor=socially mobile
43
5. Globalisation & Religion
Religious Fundamentalism
Issues/Evidence
This has been a recent area of focus since high profile cases
of Islamist terrorism (9/11 and beyond).
Giddens – fundamentalists:
•
Traditionalists – return to basics of faith
•
Believe in infallible truth of scriptures
•
Believe in only one true view of the world – intolerant of
others/dogmatic/sacred texts
•
Avoid contact with others who think different
•
Rely upon clergy/elders – guardians of tradition
They detest modernity BUT use tech. to spread their beliefs
(ie, Internet/televangelism/electronic church)
•
•
•
•
•
Fundamentalism is a response to globalisation
Glob. Undermines tradition/norms/values
Late modernity = uncertainty/confusion = people desire
certainty/security
Cosmopolitanism = personal choice (Fund. oppose)
Bauman – fund. free people from agony of choice
Evaluation
Beckford argues:
• Ignore hybrids movements (halfway
between cosmo. And fund.)
• Fixated on fund. – ignore globalisation
and non-fundamental faiths
• All fund. Faiths ‘lumped’ together
Haynes notes:
• Rise of Islamic fundamentalism may
be linked to conflicts internally- local
elites failed to improve society..and
not a reaction to globalisation.
Castells – 2 responses to postmodernity:
• Resistant identity (defensive/retreat)
• Project identity (forward-looking/new social movements)
Bruce – 2 fundamentalisms:
• In West (reaction to change WITHIN society) – moral decay
• In 3rd World (react to OUTSIDE forces) – western values
imposed by foreign capitalism – anti state (Iran 1979)
44
5. Globalisation & Religion
Cultural Defence
Issues/Evidence
Bruce – religion unifying a community against an
external threat.
•
•
•
This gives religion a high profile role in politics
Religion is a symbol of ‘collective identity’
Unifies against an ‘external enemy’
Poland (1989)
• Soviet Union control – communists
• Catholic church supported the Solidarity
movement that overthrew communist rule there
(like Liberation Theology – Neo.Mx)
Evaluation
Haynes
• Iranian revolution not typical of
Middle East – as led by religious
leaders
• Other countries = religious leaders
usually back local elites who support
Western imperialism.
• These leaders oppose fundamentalism
Iran (1979)
• Western capitalism/oil – backed the Shah = rapid
modernisation/Westernisation
• Islamic resistance – Khomeini – revolution and
creation of Islamic republic (religious leaders play
a role in govt.)
Cultural defence could also be linked to Cargo
cults/Millenarian Movements like ‘Ghost Dance Cult’
(Marvin Harris – Cows, Pigs, Wars & Witches)
45
5. Globalisation & Religion
Clash of Civilisations
Evaluation
Issues/Evidence
Recent years = global conflicts – 9/11
Huntington
• conservative view
• Conflicts grew after collapse of communism 1989
• Different civilisations – distinct cultures – clashing
Religion increasing as source of identity because:
(1) Political differences less important (commies
gone!)
(2) Globalisation = nation state less important
(3) Globalisation increases contact = chance of
conflict greater
•
•
‘us and them’ hostility growing = competition for
economic and military power globally
Much harder to ‘resolve religious differences’
•
Jackson – ‘orientalism’ – stereotyping
of eastern nations as untrustworthy,
inferior and fanatical.
•
Stereotyping justifies exploitation
and human rights abuses by the west
(ie, Guantanamo Bay)
•
Casanova – ignores religious
differences ‘within’ different
civilisations.
•
Horrie & Chippendale – misleading
conservative view that portrays
Islam as the enemy (Islamaphobia)
•
Armstrong – hostility against west is
not from fundamentalist Islam, BUT
reaction to Western foreign policy in
Middle East, ie) West backing
oppressive regimes
•
Inglehart & Norris – it isn’t a clash
of civilisations dividing the world –
46
but a clash of cultural differences
over sexuality (liberal v traditional)
5. Religion & Globalisation (bring together)
Think about
• Links to role of religion
• Secularisation debate
• Religion & conflict
• Conservative force or
social change?
4. Clash of
Civilisations
Religious
differences =
source of identity
today
India
1. Religion & Development
Latin America
Ascetic
Economic growth
Relationship
between religion
& globalisation
2.Fundamentalism
Vs
cosmopolitanism
3.Cultural defence
Detraditionalisation
Globalisation =
increased contact
Hard to resolve
religious
differences =
deep rooted
culturally
Consumerism
Economic growth
Nation state and
politics less
important as
sources of
identity
Poland (1989)
Iran (1979)
Response/challenge to
external threat
Liberation
Theology
•
•
Cultural defence
Source of identity
Colonies/invasion
& Cargo cults,
Millenarian Movts
47
6. Ideology as a belief system
48
6. Science as a belief system
49
7. Secularisation
Defining secularisation
•
•
•
Bryan Wilson ‘the process whereby
religious thinking, participation and
institutions lose social significance’
Steve Bruce – there is not one
secularisation theory – but a ‘cluster
of descriptions & explanations’
Jose Casanova – notes 2 approaches
to defining secularisation:
(a) Structural level (institution)
(b) Individual level (personal belief)
•
Glock & Stark – multi-dimensional
and no general agreement on what a
truly religious society is
•
David Martin – ‘an intellectual
holdall’ that should be abandoned
The classical theorists
Rise of science + industrialisation =
secularisation
•
Marx – communism = no classes = no
religion needed
•
Durkheim – industrialisation =
organic solidarity = shared beliefs
from other sources – education
replace religion
•
Weber – rationalisation = control of
environment/efficiency – rise of
science = bureaucratic organisation
= actions driven by rational goals
50
Secularisation – the big picture
Decline in
participation
•
•
•
•
Less and less people
attending church
Crockett – church
attendance in 1851
(40%) – ‘Golden Age’
(Victorian UK)
Only 6.3% attend
church on Sunday
today
Sunday schools,
church weddings,
baptisms all declined
Decline in
belief
Decline in
religious institutions
•
Belief without belonging
•
Gill – big drop in belief in •
a personal God/ ideas
about the afterlife
•
Many people claim to
belong to a religion
Religion losing
influence
•
Hard to measure
‘authentic’ belief in
surveys (ie, 390’000
claimed to be Jedi in
census)
Clergy/population ratio
has dramatically fallen
•
Changes in social attitudes
– sex outside of marriage,
cohabitation, divorce, less
marriage, rise in crime etc
•
Bruce notes:
•
State performs many
roles that the church
once did, ie) welfare
51
Support for Secularisation
Evidence/Explanation
In brief
•
Decline in Religious Participation
•
Fewer people attend church/less
ceremonies
•
Decline in beliefs
•
•
Changing attitudes on issues
Less belief in God
•
Religious pluralism
•
•
Many faiths = no universal faith in society
Fragmented – less influence
•
Disengagement/ differentiation
•
•
•
Church withdrawn from society
Less power and influence
Church not focal point of community
•
Disenchantment
•
•
Rational attitude – faith in science
Man control of the world
•
Disneyfication/loss of meaning
•
Marketisation of religion has lessened its
52
authenticity in a postmodern age
Studies/Evidence
Evaluation
Participation
•
•
Crockett – low attendance
Drop in baptism, church weddings,
Sunday school etc
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Golden age?
Unreliable stats in past – motives
Diff. religs measure member in diff ways
Believing without belonging (Davie)
Identity/cultural defence – ethnic min.
Not all countries have low participation
Brierley – non-christ. Religions increased
Pluralism
•
•
Wilson – 1 faith = strong (Durkheim)
Decline of community (Bruce) –
diversity and bonds decline
Immigration – many faiths = waters
down impact of single faith
Religion can’t support all values..no
monopoly on truth (Berger)
•
•
•
Greater choice and diversity
Different beliefs = greater commitment
Faith not dictated by tradition but by
true/meaningful choice
Bruce – church has less power and
influence in wider society
Specialisation of church’s roles by
other institutions (Parsons)
Church‘/spirituality marginalised in
society – not focal point of
community
•
Religion still source of education and
welfare (nationally and globally)
Education Trusts linked to religions
Church - more effective in role
Civil religious experiences/media
coverage
Generalisation of relig. Values (Parsons)
Casanova – religion in public life still
Rationalisation = scientific outlook
Desacrilisation – less driven by
mystical/supernatural beliefs
(Weber)
Technology = greater control of
world (Bruce)
•
•
•
Disengagement
and
Diffentiation
•
•
•
Disenchantment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Significant interest in ghosts, UFOs,
spoon bending, ESP, mediums…still
Recent growth in alternative beliefs and
a ‘spiritual revolution’
53
Pomo – rejection of metanarratives
Challenges to Secularisation
Evidence/Explanation
In brief
Resacrilisation & the spiritual
revolution
•
•
A religious revivalism – more individualist
spirituality
Growth in NAMs and sects
•
Believing without belonging
•
•
Private sphere = religion
No longer need ‘collective worship’
•
Rise of fundamentalism
•
People turning to fundamentalism rather than
traditional faiths
•
Existential security theory
•
Certain people/places have a greater need for
religion, ie) poorer societies
Richer countries are more ‘secure’ so have less
need = certainty
•
•
•
Cultural defence/transition
•
•
Religion can be important source of identity
Religion provides support/community for
migrants
•
Structural differentiation (the flip
side)
•
Religion specialises role now/more effective in
spiritual matters
•
Pluralism (the flip side)
•
Greater diversity and choice – not dictated by
54
tradition links to resacrilisation)
Studies/Evidence
Resacrilisation
•
•
•
•
•
Evaluation
Heelas – move from trad. religion
Religious renewal – individualistic
spirituality ‘self religions’ (World
Affirming NRMS/NAMs)
Personalised – hybrids – pick n mix
Spiritual market is growing.. Personal
choice/less demanding
Evangelic faith’s appeal = healing and self
improvement
•
•
•
Bruce – very few into ‘New Age’
Wilson – ‘sects = last gasp for religiosity’
Wilson – NRMs etc = middle class indulgence –
‘meditation & sushi’
Davie – privatised faith
Less community focused nature
•
Voas & Crockett – continual decline in
believing as well as belonging
Attendance = commitment
Believing
without
belonging
•
•
Rise of
fundamentalism
•
•
•
Almond – global rise in fundamentalism
Need for certainty/tradition
Roof & McKinney – USA – New Christian
Right = Conservatives – tradition/morality
•
Existential
security theory
•
Norris & Inglehart – 3rd world religion is
strong = high risks and need for security
(compensation)
•
•
•
Vasquez – over reliance on income data
See religion as a negative response
Ignore positive appeal to wealthy too
Cultural
defence/
transition
•
Bruce – focal point for identity for some
groups – under threat (cult. defence)
Help migrants/eth, min. with support and
community (cult. Transition)
•
Bruce – religion only survives because of
identity role (not about spirituality)
Structural
differentiation
•
Parsons – religion more specialised and
generalisation of values
•
Are values so generalised today?
Pluralism
•
Greater choice/diversity – religiosity =
more meaningful
•
•
More diversity = fragmented and weak
Ecumenicalism is proof of weakness55
of faiths
(Wilson)
(see
Fundamentalism
slides)
•
•
•
Bruce – slowed down secularisation but lack
power/influence and impact
Only gained attention because they are so
‘extreme’…in a secular world
Secularisation – Other considerations
International comparisons
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
USA – high religiosity
Most Europe – 40%
Brierley (only small drop in
Christianity globally)
Islam increasing globally
Christianity in Ireland
USA – New Christian
Right/Televangelism
It is not a single process
equal to all societies
(Martin)
Martin
Strength of religion depends
on :
• link to identity (ethnic,
national and regional)
• Link between church/state
• Degree of pluralism
Kepel
• Religious revivals around the
world (Islamization,
Christian fundamentalism)
• Reactions to ‘secular’
governments & modernity
Different social groups
• Ethnic minorities maintain
religiosity (although 2nd generation
less so)
• Women more religious than men
• Different groups = different needs,
ie) cultural defence/transition,
compensation etc
Problems defining secularisation
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sects/Cults/NRMS/NAMS
•
•
•
•
•
Greeley – renewed interest in
spiritual in the West
Brierley – rise in non-trinitarian
christian churches/other faiths
Heelas & Woodhead – spiritual
revolution – New Age rise – meet
personal choice/self-religions/suit
lifestyle/hybridity/self-improve.
Bruce ‘irrelevant with little
impact in society’ – new age
beliefs are weak/personal
Berger ‘islands in a secular sea’
Shiner – at least 6 definitions of
secularisation in use
Glock and Stark – multidimensional
Martin – ‘abandon the term’
This theory underestimates the
level of diversity in practice/belief
‘inclusive’ definitions are vague and
allow religiosity to ‘trap’ more
religiosity
How far religious institutions are
religious? (Herberg/Bellah) –
‘secularisation from within’ (Bruce)
Problems measuring secularisation
Church participation
• Under-estimates/over-estimates
• Self collected data issues
• Using different definitions/criteria
• People attending in past for ‘social’
reasons/status/pressure (Martin)
• Problem defining ‘golden age’
Opinion polls
• Measuring belief =problem – abstract
• Interpretation of questions
• How far do actions match beliefs?
56
(Haddaway et al)
Secularisation – top tips for angles in questions
1. Look out for those 18 markers (that look at a small part of the debate) remember
these 18 markers give ‘big marks’ for blending different ideas together
Religion no longer = shared values/universe of meaning
- A kind of role of religion meets elements of secularisation + postmodernity Q
Church of England declining..other religions getting popular
- Resacrilisation question/focus on participation evaluation/cultural defence/
- pluralism/fundamentalism
2. Those short questions on ‘problems with using statistics on belief’
3. Essays on ‘there is a spiritual revolution’ ( where you look at evidence of
resacrilisation/NRMs/evangelical churches/fundamentalism etc and then
evaluate in a secularisation capacity with Pomo considerations)
4. Essays on ‘secularisation only in the USA/Europe’ (explore the secularisation
argument but pay clear focus to international comparisons/globalisation/
resacrilisation / fundamentalism/existential security etc)
57
Key words
Learn definitions for these concepts….
Alienation
Ascetic
Audience cults
Bureaucracy
Calvinism
Charismatic leader
Church
Civil religion
Client cults
Collective conscience
Congregation
Consumer culture
Counter culture
Cults
Cultural defence
Culture transition
Denomination
Detraditionalisation
Differentiation (structural)
Disenchantment
Disengagement
Dual consciousness
Elect
Feudalism
Fundamentalism
Generalisation
Globalisation
Hegemony
Hierarchy
Holistic milieu
Hyperreality
Ideology
Islamophobia
Legitimation
Liberation theology
Life crisis
Marginal
Metanarrative
New Age movement
Orientalism
Patriarchy
Pluralism
Positivist Stage
Postmodernism
Private sphere
Privatised religion
Profane
Protestant ethic
Rationality
Rationalisation
Relative autonomy
Relative deprivation
Resacrilisation
Sacred
Sects
Secularisation
Self-religions
Social solidarity
Spirit of capitalism
Spiritual shoppers
Theodicy of disprivilege
Theological stage
Value consensus
World accommodating sects
World affirming sects
58
World rejecting sects