Religion & Society

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Written by Dr David Palmer.
Aims of the chapter

The aims of this chapter are to help you understand the following: how sociologists look at and research religion how religions function as social organisations within society how religions are changing and are influencing social change in the era of globalisation.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this chapter, and having completed the Essential reading and Activities, you should be able to: explain religious phenomena from a sociological angle consider and critically evaluate various sociological concepts, theories and methods as they are applied to religion describe how religion fits into overall processes of modernity and globalisation.
Study materials
To study this chapter, you will have to work through the chapter and study some essential and recommended texts at the points indicated.
Essential reading
Aldridge, Alan Religion in the contemporary world: a sociological introduction. (Oxford: Polity Press, 2007) second edition [ISBN 9780745634050].
And one chapter chosen from:

Fulcher, J. and J. Scott Sociology. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) Chapter 11. Macionis, J. and K. Plummer Sociology: a global introduction. (Harlow: Prentice Hall, 2005) Chapter 18 or (2008) Chapter 19.
You should also consult one of the following introductions to the history, teachings and practices of the worlds religions:
Hopfe, L. and M.R. Woodward Religions of the world. (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2008) eleventh edition [ISBN 9780136061779]. Nigosian, S.A. World faiths. (New York: St Martins Press, 2000) third edition [ISBN 9780333727225].
Websites
On the website 8 www.sociology.org.uk/cload.htm, under the heading religion, you can download a series of articles on the sociology of religion, on the topics listed below. These articles are useful supplements to the materials presented in this chapter: definitions and concepts of religion Marxist theories of religion
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21 Principles of sociology
interactionist theories secularisation religious organisations functionalist theories religion and social position (race, class and gender) religious pluralism religion and social change 1 religion and social change 2 (new religious movements). The website 8 www.pscw.uva.nl/sociosite/topics/religion.html, under the Religion heading in Subject areas, contains a wealth of links to other sites on different religious groups and topics.
Further reading detailed recommendations

For more theoretical discussions of Marx, Durkheim and Weber on religion see:
Giddens, A. Sociology. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2008) Chapters 14, 16 and 19. Lee, D. and H. Newby The problem of sociology. (London: Routledge, 2000) Chapters 12 and 14.
For a detailed comparison of the different types of religious experiences, practices, doctrines and social forms around the world, you may want to consult:
Momen, Moojan The phenomenon of religion: a thematic approach. (Oxford: Oneworld, 1999).
A classic example of the use of sociological methods to study a religious group is:
Barker, Eileen The making of a Moonie: choice or brainwashing? (Oxford: Blackwell, 1984). A documentary video on this study can be ordered from www.halovine.com Festinger, L. When prophecy fails. (Harper and Row, 1964).
On religion and globalisation, you can consult:

Beyer, Peter Religion and globalization. (London: Sage, 1994).
An interesting collection of essays on the globalisation of various religions around the world is also contained in:
Juergensmeyer, Mark (ed.) Global religions: an introduction. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003).
If you are interested in the relationships between religion, spirituality and business management, you might want to consult:
Giaccalone, Robert and Carole L. Jurkiewicz (eds) The handbook of workplace spirituality and organizational performance. (Armonk, NY and London: M.E. Sharpe, 2003).
A good essay on the influence of Confucianism on economic and political culture is:
Tu, Weiming Confucian ethics today the Singapore challenge. (Singapore: Federal Publications, 1984).
A good, short introduction to religious fundamentalism is:

Bruce, Steve Fundamentalism. (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2000).
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For an analysis of religious violence and the causes of terrorism, you can check out:
Juergensmeyer, Mark Terror in the mind of God: the global rise of religious violence. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2003).
If you are interested in how representatives of religious communities, see the contribution religion can make to peace-building and the development of a global civilisation, see:
Mische, Patricia and Melissa Merkling Toward a global civilization? The contribution of religions. (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2001).
If you want to delve into the original theoretical works, two classics often referred to in this chapter are:
Durkheim, Emile: The elementary forms of religious life. Translated by Karen E. Fields (New York: Free Press, 1995). Weber, Max The Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism. Translated by Talcott Parsons with an introduction by Anthony Giddens. (London: Unwyn Hyman, 1989).
Introduction
Now read Aldridge (2007) Chapter 1. Since before the dawn of history, religion has played a major role in the formation and evolution of human societies. As you will have seen in Chapter 4, section 4.2, the great theorists of classical sociology, such as Marx, Durkheim and Weber, all wrote extensively on religion. They were interested in the role played by religion in the development and maintenance of social cohesion, economic behaviour, and social and political structures. They also analysed the phenomenon of secularisation: what appeared to be the diminishing influence of religion in modern society. For a while modernists seemed to sound the death-knell of religion; God is dead, some said; sociologists wanted to know how societies would evolve without religion. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, however, religion once again appears to play a growing role in many societies, be it in the areas of culture, values, education, family life, business, politics, ethnicity or international relations. But the most dynamic forms of religion today are often not the same as those of past centuries. As societies have changed, so have forms of religious belief, practice and organisation. Today, sociologists seek to understand the changing forms of religion as they interact with other dimensions of human society. This chapter is divided as follows: the introduction takes you into the subject matter by asking you to reflect on your own experience and prior knowledge about religion. We then consider how to define religion (section 12.1), and you will be given pointers on how to research a religious group and a social issue related to religion (section 12.2). The next three parts will look at different aspects of the relationship between religion and society: religion and social integration (section 12.3); religion and social conflict (section 12.4) and religion and economic culture (section 12.5). Finally, you
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will be asked to analyse the changing social roles of religion in the context of modernity, by considering debates on secularisation (section 12.6) and religious adaptations to globalisation (section 12.7). It might seem strange to take a sociological approach to religion. After all, religion can be very subjective. In the course of prayer, ritual or meditation, the religious person may experience a profound state of communion with a god or gods, a feeling of unity with the whole world, an outpouring of love for all creatures, or a surge of joy or ecstasy. Such experiences are deeply personal and often difficult to express in words. In that sense, they are private and unique to each individual. Do you agree? Have you ever had a religious or spiritual experience? Do you think other people have had similar experiences? On the other hand, religions provide symbols and concepts with which the individual can describe and interpret experiences, and share their experiences with others. Some religious groups and practices, moreover, deliberately seek to trigger religious or mystical experiences through music, dance, chanting, meditation or breathing activities. Thus religions can provide a social context for spiritual experiences. But there is more to religion than subjective experience. Many religious people have not had special inner experiences, and some religious groups do not encourage them. But most engage in religion as a social activity, through which they establish and maintain relationships with other people. This is where the interest of sociology begins. Activity 12.1 Your religious practices and affiliations Pause and think do you consider yourself religious? Why or why not? Do you participate in religious activities? Do you think you are becoming more religious or less religious? Are your opinions and practices related to a religion different from those of your parents, grandparents or people of their generation? Go back to Chapter 1, Activity 1.6: Self and society. Among the 10 words you used to describe the person you are, did you mention any religious affiliations, such as Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist? If so, what does such an affiliation mean in terms of the way you relate to other people and to society at large? One way of answering such questions would be to say, I am religious because I believe that there is no God but God and that Mohammad, peace be upon him, was his Apostle; or to me, being a Christian means that I believe in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; or I am not religious, because I dont believe in God. These answers are all based on the content of what you believe. The common sense understanding of religion often sees things in this way: religion is about peoples beliefs. But a sociologist would look at things differently. He or she would be more interested in knowing how peoples beliefs (or absence of beliefs) are related to their social behaviour. For example, if you said you were Buddhist, the sociologist would be interested in knowing how being a Buddhist is part of your social life. How did you become a Buddhist? Who taught you about Buddhism and how did they teach it to you? Are you a Buddhist because you were born in a Buddhist family, or did you choose to become a Buddhist after meeting some Buddhists, reading books on Buddhism, or taking part in Buddhist activities? Are you part of a Buddhist group? What type of group is it? What are its activities? How is it organised? Does being a Buddhist lead you to behave differently from non-Buddhists for example, in the way you deal with money, work, sex, family or politics?
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Activity 12.2 Your religious background Consider the questions I just asked and apply them to yourself. Even if you consider yourself not religious, you can still ask yourself the same types of questions: how did you end up not being religious? Did you grow up in an environment without formal religion, did you simply lose interest in your parents religion, or did you consciously reject their religious beliefs? Even though you arent religious, do you ever take part in religious activities, or are you a member of a religious group? Do you think you behave differently from religious people? Or perhaps youre not sure about religion, you are still looking for answers about religion and spirituality. In that case, you can also ask yourself similar questions. Were you brought up with any kind of religion as a child? What led you to look for something else? What have you done as part of your search? What groups or practices have you taken an interest in? Have you been involved in any religious or spiritual groups? Has anything changed in your lifestyle as you explore different types of religion? Basically, the sociologist wants to know what role religion plays in the relationships between people. For example, religion usually brings people together for collective activities of prayer and ritual. People have different roles and statuses in religious activity: some may be in a leadership position, such as the priest, the imam or the monk, and have a specific type of relationship with the common worshipper. If you are a member of a religious group, what is your role within it? What types of relationships do you have with other members of the group or community? Are they the same types of relationships that your parents or grandparents have/had? The religious activity may be organised by a local group, such as a Chinese temple committee, or by a worldwide institution, such as the Roman Catholic church. The social structure of these organisations is of interest to the sociologist, as well as the relationships between different religious groups, and those between religious groups and other social groups. What types of religious groups have you had experience of? How do they relate to the wider society and to other religious groups? To take another example, in many societies religion is the main source of values and beliefs pertaining to the institution of the family, the relationships between men and women, and the raising of children. Is that the case in your country or area? What do you think about some of the religious values and beliefs of the families in your area? Religious organisations may or may not be directly involved in politics. If they are, there are examples in the world of several different links between religion and politics. For example, informal networks of people formed in religious settings may extend into the political or business worlds. Other religious groups may directly establish or support political parties, or even try to attain political power themselves. Are any religious groups politically active in your area? In what way? People with different religious backgrounds may have different attitudes to work and money, just as they may have different views on modern lifestyles. People of different social backgrounds may tend to be associated with different religious communities. The sociologist would be interested in knowing if your religious affiliation has anything to do with your gender, your social class, your ethnic group or other social groups you are a part of. All of these phenomena, insofar as they touch on the social relationships between people, are of interest to the sociologist.
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The point I want to make here is that religions are much more than beliefs, ideas and symbols. For example, for me, to say that I am a Bahai means more than saying that I believe in the teachings of the Bahai religion it also means that I am a member of a religious community, which has its social organisation of worldwide elected councils, and its norms of behaviour in the form of collective activities and ethical principles which, for example, in the case of the Bahais, encourage interracial marriage and forbid involvement in partisan politics. Such norms have an important influence on the relationships of Bahais with other people, and therefore, on the way they live in society. Do you follow any religious rules or norms? If so, how do they affect the way you live in society? If not, think of someone you know who does.
Religious influences on society and culture

Even when a person doesnt consider religious affiliation to be an important part of their identity, there may be an indirect religious influence. For example, Julie, the student cited in the example in Chapter 1, Activity 1.6, mentions that she is British. The worldview, customs and culture that are associated with being British are influenced by the history of Christianity in the British Isles, which may affect how, as a female, mother, and wife, she interacts with males, children and her husband. But what if Julie had been born in, for example, a Sikh family that had immigrated to the UK from India? Or suppose she converted to Hinduism? How would this affect her relations with the surrounding society? Activity 12.3 What is, or are, the main religion(s) of your country? In what ways do you think these religions have influenced the overall society and culture of the country? List specific examples of social practices, customs and ideas derived from the religion, which are now commonly held, even by people who do not believe in or practise the religion. One simple example is traditional festivals in your country, such as Christmas or the Lunar New Year. Do you know the religious roots of these festivals? How widely practised are they? What is their overall social influence? Think of how they affect peoples work, the economy, and the social activities people engage in during the festivals.
Religion and current events

These days, many issues we hear about in the news have some connection with religion. For example, a national issue in France in 2004 was the governments decision to forbid state school students from wearing ostentatious religious symbols such as the Islamic headscarf, large Christian crosses and the Jewish kippa. This controversy was triggered by the conflict between the French states ideology of secularism (the strict separation of religion from the state) with the trend of increasing numbers of female Muslim students wearing headscarves at school, in accordance with what they (or their parents) consider to be a religious obligation. The religious dimension of this problem was linked with other social issues: debates on gender roles: some people considered the headscarf to be a sign of womens submission, and thus degrading their dignity; but others, on the other hand, argued that the headscarf and the modesty it represents freed girls from the social pressure to perform as sex objects conflicting visions of national and cultural identity: for some, France should protect its own culture, in which women are not required to wear headscarves, whereas for others, France should be a multicultural country which accepts different customs
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the cultural, social and economic integration of immigrants from Muslim countries: some people considered that immigrants from Muslim countries were not well integrated into French society, and considered that the headscarf was a sign of their rejection of French values. Activity 12.4 Can you think of some other issues covered by the news in your area or elsewhere in the world, in which religion has played a role? Consider how the religious dimension is related to other dimensions of social life. Based on your knowledge of the event or issue, do you think the religious aspect is fundamental, or do you think other factors are more important to understand the issue? Use the table below to organise your ideas. Some examples are given to get you started. Event or issue Banning of Islamic headscarf in French schools Terrorism (9-11) Religious dimension Obligation for girls to wear headscarf in some interpretations of Islam Other social dimensions Gender roles and dignity of women. Social integration of Muslims
Homosexual marriage
You may have found this activity a bit hard. Dont worry! One of the tasks of sociologists of religion is precisely to understand what is really going on when religious issues become public problems. Of course, the media tend to report on sensational conflicts, but the sociologist will be just as interested in the role of religion in situations of social harmony or cohesion. As we will see, conflict and cohesion are often directly related to one another.
12.1 Defining religion

Now read Aldridge (2007) Chapter 2. Going through the past few pages, you have been asked to reflect on the place of religion in your own life, in your own society, and in some of the major issues that people are concerned about in todays world. Now lets take a closer look at how a sociologist would go about giving us a clearer understanding of these things.
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To begin with, we have to know what we are talking about. What is religion? From a sociological perspective there is no simple answer to this simple question. This is the first problem we encounter when we try to look at religion as a universal human phenomenon. On the one hand, most people, whether or not they hold religious beliefs, would agree that religion is an objective phenomenon which can be observed in a wide range of human cultures and societies. But, if we try to look more closely at different religious beliefs, groups or practices, we quickly find it difficult to come up with a single, commonly accepted definition of the term religion that would allow us to clearly identify and understand religious phenomena. For example, many Chinese people worship ancestors in altars at their homes or periodically burn incense to gods in temples, but if you asked them if they are religious, they would probably say no. Some influential thinkers and scholars conclude that China does not have religion, while others, on the contrary, maintain that Chinese culture is steeped in religion. These different opinions are largely due to different understandings of the word religion. Activity 12.5 Is it religion? What is your understanding of religion? Write down a definition and then put checkmarks beside those that are, in your opinion, religious phenomena. Your definition of religion: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ A funeral Christianity Islam Communism Incense burning The teachings of Confucius Football matches Atheism Astrology Political parties and rallies Pop music idols Prayer Charity Science Working for social change Business Witchcraft
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Depending on your definition of religion, the different items on the list may or may not be considered to be religious, or to have a religious aspect. The definition of religion often depends on personal beliefs and the purposes for which it is used. A seeker wishing to deepen her spiritual life may have a different understanding of the word religion from that of the clergyman looking for criteria to distinguish true religion from superstition. The sociologist looks at religion with a different set of objectives in mind. As we have seen in Chapter 1, there is a difference between sociology and common sense. We all have some knowledge of religion: even those who have no religious practice or belief have probably been involved in religious festivals of some sort, visited religious sites, learned something about religion at school, and been exposed to media reports of religious groups involved in current events. All these experiences produce some common images and ideas about religion. They are what Section A refers to as commonsense knowledge of religion. Based on systematic research and theory, the sociologists understanding will be different from these lay views. But it will also be different from that of other people who engage in the systematic study of religion: theologians and religious specialists, such as priests, monks, masters or imams. The knowledge of these religious specialists is, by definition, different from that of the layperson, and much of their work often consists of studying and explaining what they consider to be the true teachings and practices of their religion, as opposed to the errors of uninformed laypeople. This is the basic difference in approach: while the religious specialist is usually interested in spiritual or metaphysical truth, or correct ritual practice, in reference to a single religious tradition, the sociologist is interested in finding universal regularities underlying the diversity of the social phenomena of religion. A sociological approach will thus focus on religion as a social activity, which is in relation with other dimensions of social activity and with the whole of society. The sociologist will thus try to use concepts of religion that can be applied to any human society or religious tradition, and that can be meaningfully related with other social phenomena such as the family, economic life or political systems. Sociologists have proposed several different sociological definitions of religion. These can be summarised into two types: substantive definitions of religion, and functional ones. a substantive definition is based on the substance, or content, of religious beliefs, that is, what people believe in. Typically, substantive approaches consider religion to be characterised by belief in supernatural beings or forces. a functional definition focuses on the functions of religion, that is, what religion does. One typical functional definition regards religion as that which provides people with ultimate meaning in life. By this definition, any system of ideas that provides ultimate meaning is considered to be religion. Another functional definition would consider any system of belief and practice that promotes social order and cohesion to be religion. (Look up Parsons in Chapter 4, section 4.2.) Activity 12.6 Reflect on your answers to the questions in Activity 12.2 in this chapter, about your own religious belief. Would you describe your belief as substantive or functional?
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Both types of definitions have their advantages and their problems. Substantive definitions may exclude certain phenomena that clearly have a religious function in society. For example, if we define religion as belief in divine beings, should we exclude Buddhism because some of its adherents claim that Buddhism does not believe in a deity? And what of the personality cults of political leaders such as Mao Zedong in China, who at certain periods were worshipped like gods? Functional definitions, on the other hand, can be too inclusive. If we define religion as that which provides ultimate meaning, for example, it becomes possible to treat many philosophies and political ideologies as religion. But doing so might lead to ignoring the practical dimension and social effect of worship and community in religions that involve substantive belief in a god. Activity 12.7 Applying definitions of religion For each of the following definitions of religion, go over the list in Activity 12.5 and identify those items that would fit with the definition: a. substantive definition of religion based on belief in supernatural beings b. functional definition based on provision of ultimate meaning c. functional definition based on provision of social cohesion. Do you find any items difficult to classify? The purpose of our discussion here is to emphasise that from a sociological perspective there are many ways of defining religion, and that different definitions and can shed light on different aspects of religious issues. Taking a substantive approach, we might look at the content of different religious beliefs and study the relationship between such beliefs and social structure. This approach was taken by Weber in his study of the relationship between protestant Christianity and the rise of capitalism (see section 12.5). Taking a functional approach, we might, like Durkheim, consider what happens to modern societies that no longer have a single, unifying system of beliefs and practices (see section 12.3 below).
12.2 Sociological research on religion

Now read Aldridge (2007) Chapters 3 and 8. People often have very strong opinions about religion. They may be firmly committed to a specific religious faith, or they may adamantly reject religious beliefs. Sociological research goes beyond subjectivity and aims for objective knowledge. When looking at religion, then, a sociological approach demands that the researcher put aside their own beliefs, prejudices and preconceived opinions. At first sight, this might seem difficult: is it possible to find an objective answer to the question of the existence of God? But remember that sociology doesnt deal with theological questions, but with social phenomena, about which it is possible to collect relatively objective data. For example, if we were to walk into a church, and there were 30 people attending a service at that moment, that number is an objective fact regardless of whether I personally think they are ignorant fools or blessed souls for doing so. Through a simple sociological survey, by distributing questionnaires, it would also be possible to collect relatively objective data
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on these peoples age, their place of birth, their ethnicity, their families, their jobs and their income and thus to get a fairly accurate picture of the social background of the people who go to this church. Such a questionnaire would produce quantitative data about the people who pray at that church, that is, numbers such as how many are under 35, how many have a high school education, etc. But if we wanted to know more about the relationships between the members of that congregation, it would probably be more useful to collect qualitative, that is descriptive, data. Qualitative data can be obtained through ethnographic research, in which the researcher conducts open-ended interviews and undertakes participant observation of the activities of a community for a long period of time. Here the sociologist can observe the changes in the subjects as they either reject the group or become more involved in the activities and gradually see themselves as members of the group. Eileen Barkers work on the Moonies and Festinger et al. When prophecy fails are examples of such work. Activity 12.8 Researching a religious group There are many sociological questions a sociologist might ask when studying a religious group. The best way to think about these questions is to think how they would design an ethnographic research project. The first thing they would do is to go out and visit the place of worship of a religious community (temple, church, mosque or synagogue) and, through their observations and discussions with community members, try to answer some of the following questions. For the purpose of this activity, we will use a substantive definition of religion, seen as establishing relationships with otherworldly beings, that is, beings that are seen as radically different from ordinary humans and acting from different worlds or planes of reality than the world of common experience such as God, spirits, souls, ancestors, immortals, saints, enlightened ones, angels, demons, etc. The otherworldly being(s) Who is, or are, the otherworldly beings worshipped in this religious community? What do the worshippers say about this/these beings? How is/are the beings considered to communicate with humans? (i.e. through prophets, through revealed books or scriptures, through visions, through inspiration). What is the message, or teachings, of the being(s)? Communication with the being(s) How do worshippers communicate with the being(s)? Are there any special rules for approaching the being(s)? What do they say, ask for, or express to the object of their worship? Is this communication individual and private (for example, through personal prayer) or collective and public (for example, through a ritual)? Who are the people who worship the being? What is their social background their age, gender, ethnicity, occupation? Do different people play different roles in the ritual? Authority and religious specialists What type of person is considered to be able to understand the beings messages? (For example, to interpret the holy book?) What type of person is considered to be able to communicate with the being? Is anyone allowed to communicate with the being and to interpret its messages, or is such activity restricted to a specific group of people?
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Is authority held by someone considered to have an extraordinary ability that is not accessible to ordinary people (charisma), such as the ability to communicate with the deity, or is it held by a group of people who have special training in religious texts or techniques? How does one enter this group of religious specialists? What training is required? Is this training primarily literary (study of the holy book), liturgical (study of ritual), meditational (practise of mental techniques), etc? What happens when different religious specialists hold different interpretations of the otherworldly messages? Community membership Can anyone take part in worship, or is it limited to a specific group of people? How does one join the group of worshippers? Is the distinction between members and non-members strong or weak? Are there different levels or categories of membership in the community? Is membership, and its categories, marked by visible signs such as dress or hairstyle? Are there any conditions of birth, ancestry, gender, age, ethnicity or nationality to join the community of worshippers or some of its categories of membership? Does membership in the community of worshippers entail following certain rules of behaviour? What happens if a member breaks those rules of behaviour or other conditions of membership? Community structure What are the hierarchies within the community structure? How is the community managed? Who are the leaders of the community? Is there a connection between ones relationship with the otherworldly being (especially, ones qualification as a religious specialist) and ones rank and status within the community? Where do the communitys financial resources come from and how are they managed? The communitys relations with society What is the influence of this community within society? Is it part of an official religion recognised or supported by the government? Does it have a long history of political influence? Or is it a minority religion or new religion? How is the religion generally perceived by other members of society? What is the social background of the majority of the community members? Are they members of the elite, of the middle classes, or of poor or marginalised social groups? Do the communitys moral and behavioural norms clash with the norms prevalent in society? If so, how do the members deal with this tension? Does the community attempt to expand by recruiting or converting new members? What methods are employed to do so? What type of relationship does the community encourage its members to have with the overall society? Does it encourage members to join mainstream society, to cut themselves off from society, or to struggle against society or specific social groups? What are the communitys views on social issues? For example, what do they say about the relationships between men and women, between different racial and ethnic groups, between rich and poor people, between the followers of different religions? Do these views tend to defend the status quo (i.e. current social conditions) or do they criticise current social conditions? Can you observe a relationship between these views and the social class of the members? In what ways is the community involved in the broader life of the society? Does it organise popular festivals? Is it engaged in running schools, hospitals, charities, or development assistance? Is it involved in political issues?
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General questions To what extent does the members (real or imagined) relationships with the otherworldly being(s) have an effect on their behaviour and social relationships with other people in this world? To what extent does the social structure of the religious community and its relations with society, differ from those of other religious communities, and of other non-religious social groups? What insights does this activity give you on the relationship between religion and society?
Researching a religious issue

In Activity 12.8 we considered a religious community as a social group, looking at the relationships between its members, with the otherworldly being(s), and with society at large. Now lets look at how a sociologist would look at a specific point of contact between a religious community and society at large. For example, let us consider the issue mentioned above of Muslim schoolgirls wearing the Islamic hijab (headscarf) in France. This phenomenon caused a great controversy in France, where a strong tradition of secularism dictates that there should be a strict separation between religion and the state, in which everyone is free to follow their own religion, but that state institutions such as schools should be neutral places, without any religious influence. Sociology cannot provide answers to the question of whether the principle of secularism is a good one, or whether wearing the hijab does indeed violate such a principle. These are questions for public debate. Nor can sociology answer the question of whether wearing the hijab is a good or bad thing, or whether Islamic teachings truly require girls to wear the hijab. These are questions for theologians, scholars of religion, and Muslims in general to debate. But sociological research might be able to provide some answers to questions on the social aspect of girls wearing the hijab in French schools. For example, who wears the hijab in French schools? Is it all Muslim girls, or only a minority of them? And if a minority, why do they wear the hijab? Do girls who wear the hijab come from families that have their roots in specific countries, or that adhere to a specific branch or interpretation of Islam? Are they following family custom, or on the contrary, are they going against it by wearing the hijab? Another set of questions that comes to mind relates to why the hijab seemed to have become more popular among Muslim schoolgirls in Western Europe. Was this part of a broader movement within Islam? Was the headscarf an isolated phenomenon, or was it one of several Muslim practices that were also spreading at the same time? Were there any organised groups or networks of people actively promoting the hijab among Muslims? What methods did they use, what types of people were active in them, and how effective were they? Another question the sociologist could try to answer through research is what the headscarf means for those who wear it. Do they consider it to be a form of submission, or a form of liberation? Is it a way to be different, as a form of rebellion against the dominant secular society, or against the erroneous religious practice of ones family, or to affirm their identification with a certain way of being a woman, or with a religious community?
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Sociological research could also look into the social impact of girls wearing the hijab. Do they interact differently with their peers and classmates than other girls? Do teachers treat them differently? Do they have different social aspirations and goals for their future? The sociologist might also ask why the Islamic headscarf became such an important and controversial issue for the non-Muslim majority in France, while in other countries, such as Britain, the headscarf seemed to have become even more widespread among Muslim schoolgirls, but without arousing much opposition from the rest of society. What social factors can account for the different responses in France and Britain? These are just some of the questions a sociologist might ask when looking at this issue. Can you think of any others? Activity 12.9 Now, lets consider how the sociologist would go about answering some of those questions. In Chapter 2, you learned about the main types of research design and research methods. Here well try to apply these to the case of the hijab in French schools. Below is a table listing some of the questions I asked concerning the hijab issue. For each question, write down what you consider to be the best type of research design (survey? experimental? ethnographic? comparative?); who the subjects of the research would be; and what method would be most appropriate (structured interview? questionnaire? unstructured interview? structured observation? unstructured observation? participant observation? documents?). Bear in mind that there is no one correct answer to this Activity because there is no single correct list of methods to use. Question
1. How many girls wear the hijab in French schools? 2. Who wears the hijab in French schools?
Research design
Subjects
Method
3. What does the headscarf mean to those who wear it? 4. What does the headscarf mean to those who dont wear it? 5. What is the impact of the headscarf on behaviour and social relations at school?
6. Is the popularity of the hijab part of a larger social or religious movement? 7. Why did the hijab arouse such controversy in French society?
8. Why did French and British societies react so differently to the hijab?
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If I were to design such a study to answer questions (1) and (2), I would conduct a survey of all the schoolgirls wearing the headscarf in a small number of schools. In terms of the social background of their students, the sample of schools should be fairly representative of French schools in general. A structured interview questionnaire would include questions about their practice of wearing the headscarf, such as when do you wear the headscarf?, when did you first start wearing it?, do you wear it at home?, etc., and questions about their familys social background, such as country of origin, ethnicity, native language, the date the parents emigrated to France, the parents profession, whether the student was born in France or abroad, etc. The same questions on social background would be asked of a control sample of girls who didnt wear the hijab. This would provide us with quantitative information to compare the social backgrounds of those who did, and those who didnt, wear the headscarf. To answer questions (3) and (4), I would conduct unstructured interviews with a smaller sample of girls who wear the headscarf and of classmates who dont. The unstructured format would aim to encourage the subjects to talk freely and openly about their feelings about the hijab. Question (5) would be addressed through unstructured observation in an ethnographic study of student behaviour and social relations in various school settings (classroom, cafeteria, yard, nearby hangouts). The purpose would be to see if the girls wearing the hijab interacted differently with other students and with teachers. This observation could be supplemented by unstructured interviews with teachers. Question (6) might require conducting a historical research design, in which I would try to trace the changes that have occurred in Muslim communities in recent years. I would use documents such as the books and pamphlets produced by Muslim thinkers and organisations, and other secondary sources, such as studies by other researchers on other aspects of Islam in France. This could be supplemented by unstructured interviews with leaders and members of Islamic organisations. In interpreting the data, I would try to see how the hijab issue fits into the larger picture of Islam in French society. For question (7), I would use largely the same design and methods as for the previous question, except that this time I would look at the longer history of how Islam and Muslims have been perceived in France, at the history of the relationship between religion and the state in France, and of how secularism became so central to French national identity. To answer question (8), a comparative research design would be required. The ideal would be for sociologists in both France and the UK to conduct identical research projects, using the same methods such as the ones described to answer questions (1) to (7), and then to compare the results of their research. If you were the investigator, perhaps you would have used different methods to answer the questions, or maybe you would have asked different questions. Indeed, as stated in the Activity, there is no single correct set of questions and methods to research a religious phenomenon. As we have seen at the end of Chapter 2 (Selection of methods), several factors come into play when designing sociological research.
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12.3 Religion and social integration

Now read Aldridge (2007) Chapter 7. In our discussion of sociological research on religion, we first looked at how we might study a specific religious community, and then at how we might study the repercussions of a specific religious practice, such as the hijab, on French society at the turn of the twenty-first century. This discussion focused on research questions and methods. Now we will consider, on a more general level, various ways in which religion interacts with society. We will begin by looking at how religion can contribute to both social integration and social conflict. Go back to the activities you did in the previous section, both on a religious group and on the hijab issue. Do the religious practices in question contribute to social integration or to social conflict, or both? In what ways? There are several ways in which religion can be a factor of group integration: religion unites people through a shared relationship with a common object of worship, who outlasts the passage of generations and the coming and going of individuals religion promotes the self-enforcement of moral norms which restrain individual desires and regulate social behaviour within the group religion brings people together for collective rituals, giving them a sense of community religion creates distinctions between sacred and profane things, which also serve as markers of group membership and identity. Do you agree or disagree that these factors contribute to group integration? Go back to the religious group you studied in Activity 12.8. Do these factors apply to that group? To what extent to they contribute to its integration? Review what you learned about Durkheim (see Chapter 4), as well as what you read about Durkheims study of suicide.2 In his study, Durkheim concluded that the main factor determining suicide rates was a hidden underlying cause, the degree of social integration. Durkheim argued that since Protestant societies were more individualistic and thus had lower levels of social integration, they had higher suicide rates than Catholic ones. The relationship between religion and social integration was of great interest to the early sociologists, who wondered how human societies came into being, and considered that religion played an important role in the emergence of organised social life. Studies of traditional societies point to the great role played by religion in the social integration of such groups. Indeed, in ancient society, religious ritual and mythology structured and gave meaning to all forms of social life, including family relations, health and healing, economic exchanges, the transmission of knowledge and political hierarchies. Religious groups were simultaneously political and economic groups, and it might be difficult to say if a group was primarily religious, political or economic: the three spheres could not easily be separated. In such a society, all
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2
See Chapter 2, section 2.4 and Chapter 4, section 4.2.
individuals shared the same religious beliefs, practices, experiences and community life. Religion provided the spiritual, moral and ritual glue that bound together the members of society. What are the common beliefs, values and practices that bind people together in your locality? Are they religious? Are they getting stronger or weaker? Are there any religious movements trying to reinforce communal values? If so, do you think such movements are contributing to social integration, or are they causing conflict? Emile Durkheim attached great importance to this function of religion, because he thought it was the means by which all aspects of social life could function in relative harmony. Durkheim considered that religion provided human beings with a meaningful picture of their social and natural environment, as well as a total view of the world, out of which every other more developed kind of theory gradually emerged, be it scientific, philosophical or ideological. Think about these questions: Do you think humans need a meaningful, total picture of the world? If so, how do they go about finding such a picture? If not, how can people live together without a coherent, shared worldview? What happens when people have conflicting worldviews? According to Durkheim, religion could provide social integration as long as people shared membership in the same social group, with the same worldview and the same boundaries between the sacred and the profane. But what happens in the differentiated and individualistic structure of a complex modern society? What type of religion would such a society produce? Durkheim considered that as societies become larger and more complex through the division of labour, the differences between individuals multiply to the point at which the only thing they have in common is that they are all human beings. At this point, collective moral obligations change, so that the focus is no longer the individuals obligation to society, but societys obligation to the individual. The sense of the sacred thus shifts from the collective to the individual. Has such a shift occurred in the society in which you live? If so, how have religious groups responded to the trend? In terms of religion, the result, thought Durkheim, would be a cult of the individual in which the human personality would be idealised. Many of the self-actualising and personal development groups which have proliferated in contemporary societies, sometimes under the umbrella of psychology or New Age spirituality, come close to this cult of the individual. Along the same lines, there is a trend towards an interest in a personal spirituality that avoids participation in organised religious groups. The emphasis on inner potential releasing the idealised personality as conceived by Durkheim tends to appeal to individualistic people of middle-class backgrounds with weak traditional bonds and high mobility. Would you personally be more interested in an individual spiritual search or in organised religious activity? Why? How about people you know? But Durkheim also considered that human beings will always feel the need to get together in collective rituals to reaffirm their social solidarity and membership of the same moral community. But this need not take place in a traditionally religious context: this function can also be played by sporting occasions, or large-scale public celebrations like National Day in many societies, whose shared emblems and symbols, such as the flag, can bind together the members of a group. Such rituals which Durkheim called civil religion provide all the citizens of a country with a unifying
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mythology of nationhood and the common experience of celebration. Another example is the morning rituals practised in some Japanese businesses, where employees affirm that they will uphold and follow the corporate goals and philosophy. What are some of the common rituals in your culture? Are they religious or not? To what extent do they give people a sense of community? Is social integration possible without rituals? Can you think of any examples of civil religion in your country? To what extent do you think they contribute to social cohesion? Are they more or less effective than religion in producing social cohesion? Many management training programmes emphasise building a corporate identity and team spirit through the collective drafting of the company vision or its mission statement, and other group activities. To what extent can such programmes be said to have a religious dimension? Another useful way to look at the role of religion in social integration is through the work of Talcott Parsons. Review what you studied on his theories (see Chapter 4, section 4.2), and answer the following questions: 1. Which of the three interrelated systems is religion a part of? 2. How does religion contribute to the normative framework of society and to distributing social roles? 3. According to Parsons, how does religion affect social change?
12.4 Religion and social conflict

You might have objected that religion isnt always a source of social integration: isnt it also a frequent cause of social conflict and war? And since the end of the twentieth century, religion has played an increasing role in international conflicts. Give some examples of social conflicts or unrest in which religion has played a part. In order to understand the religious dimension to some of the conflicts and wars tearing up societies in many parts of the world, we need to look at three things: how a given religious worldview divides and categorises humans, how it conceives of the relationships between the different groups of humans, and how it puts its categorisations into practice how social groups use religious identity to amplify and sacralise preexisting social conflicts how, under the effects of globalisation, the weakening of other types of social identity can lead people to turn to religious identities, and thus to amplify religious differences. When people engage in religious worship, they usually do so at special times and places, and using special objects, words and symbols. These special times, places and other things are said to be sacred. Thus religions separate the world into two quite distinct and separate classes of objects and symbols: the sacred and the profane. (These are important concepts in Durkhiems sociology, but he was far from being a conflict theorist.) Profane objects are things we use for their mundane utility. But sacred things are set apart and treated with attitudes of respect and awe.
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People who belong to the same social group usually share the same sacred things, but have different sacred things from the members of other social groups. Thus, the distinction between the sacred and the profane also serves to make a distinction between people who are inside the group, and those who are outside it: they serve as markers of identity. As soon as a religious group comes into existence, a division emerges between the ingroup of the religious worshippers and the out-group of all other people. Activity 12.10 Sacred and profane Make a list of objects, symbols, people, places, or acts that people consider to be sacred in your society. Examples: a sacred scripture; a national flag; a temple; a holy mountain; a religious ceremony. For each item, think of how people react if you do not respect these sacred things. To what extent is group identity associated with respect for sacred things? Different things are sacred for different groups. If you were not a member of a particular group, would you respect its sacred things as much? How the in-group perceives its relationship with the out-group will have an important effect on the probability of conflict. There are many possible scenarios: The existence of the out-group is seen as an anomaly that must be corrected: it is an enemy to be struggled against and must be defeated and exterminated, by violent means if necessary. The existence of the out-group is seen as inevitable, but there is a hierarchical relationship between the in-group and the out-group: the in-group is superior, while the out-group should have an inferior social status. The existence of the out-group is seen as inevitable, but the in-group must protect itself against the out-group by limiting contacts with the out-group (for example, by forbidding marriage outside the group). The in-group sees itself as in competition with other religious groups for the support of worshippers; it should thus make efforts to become more attractive and prosperous than other groups providing similar religious or spiritual services. Members of the out-group are all seen as potential members of the ingroup, so efforts need to be made to convert them to the religion. The distinction between the out-group and in-group is seen as one between ignorance and knowledge; so the knowledge of the in-group should be shared with people in the out-group who do not yet have that knowledge. Distinctions between the in-group and out-group are seen to be caused by human limitations; efforts should be made to transcend such distinctions by respecting other peoples beliefs and by becoming aware of our common origins and spiritual aspirations. Activity 12.11 For each of the above scenarios, what are the chances of conflict arising? Which of the scenarios is most conducive to social integration? Can you think of any other scenarios? Look back at the religious group you studied in Activity 12.8 as well as other religious groups in your area. How do they perceive the relationship between ingroup and out-group, and how do they act on this perception? Bear in mind that several different attitudes may coexist in the same group.
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Think of a conflict involving religion. To what extent is the conflict a result of one of the scenarios listed above? In the past 200 years, many thinkers have suggested that the best solution to religious conflict is the elimination of religion altogether. What do you think of such a solution? Is it realistic? What would the consequences of such a policy be on social integration? Now that you have reflected on some of the possible scenarios of relations between in-groups and out-groups, what insights can this give you into ways to avoid or minimise religious conflict? So far, we have looked at how religious conflict can be caused by perceptions inherent to religious groups themselves. But in many cases, religious conflict is produced or amplified when the boundaries between different religions overlap with divisions between ethnic groups, social classes, or nation states. When religious identity is an integral part of ethnic or national identity, and when rival ethnic groups or nation states with different religious identities come into conflict, religion can be used by both sides as a symbolic framework for giving meaning to the conflict. What may have been primarily tension over competing political or economic interests is thus cast in religious terms. The conflict then comes to be seen as part of a broader, sacred struggle. Activity 12.12 The religious factor in conflicts Consider the relationship between religion and ethnicity in your region. Does membership in a certain ethnic group automatically involve a specific religious affiliation (or vice versa?) What happens when someone changes religion or joins a religion that very few members of this ethnic group belong to? How are religious minorities treated? Choose three of the following conflicts and consider whether the conflict is primarily religious, or whether a religious factor has been added to a conflict that is primarily political, ethnic or economic. How would a sociologist measure the relative importance of different factors such as the political, religious or economic? In cases where the conflict mixes many factors, how do religious differences overlap with other lines of conflict? How does the religious factor modify the dynamic of the conflict? Al Qaeda holy war Former Yugoslavia India Iraq Israel/Palestine Northern Ireland Kashmir Sri Lanka Sudan Tibet Other
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12.5 Religion and economic culture

Religious beliefs and practices can influence peoples behaviour quite apart from their strictly religious activities. They can thus have an effect on aspects of social life that are not directly related to religion, such as peoples attitudes to work and to money, and by extension to a societys economic culture. A good example is Max Webers study of the factors influencing the growth of Western capitalism (see Chapter 4, section 4.2). Weber was intrigued by what seemed to be an anomaly: in his time (the beginning of the twentieth century), most business leaders, capitalists and skilled labourers in Europe were Protestant Christians. Could there be a relationship between their religious life and their economic success? Intuitively, one might be tempted to say that the spiritual concerns of religion are irrelevant, or even contradictory, to the spirit of capitalism, which is devoted to the systematic accumulation of material wealth. Weber, however, found an interesting link between the early development of capitalist enterprise and a branch of Protestantism known as Calvinism, which was characterised by this-worldly asceticism: believers were told to become detached from this world and live a simple, frugal life, but, unlike monks who withdraw from society in monasteries, they were expected to do so while working to earn a living. The result was that, through their hard work, they earned a lot of money, but their ascetic lifestyle prevented them from spending their money on luxuries. As a result, they reinvested their earnings, leading to the accumulations of capital. Indeed, John Calvin (15091564) believed that it was mans duty to glorify God through hard and earnest work in an everyday occupation. He also believed that God had predestined some for salvation and some for damnation, and that nothing a man did in his lifetime could alter his fate. Weber explored the effect of such beliefs on the feelings of the believers. Such a doctrine would lead to salvation anxiety caused by the fact that the believer always wanted to know if he was saved, but only God knew the answer. One way to relieve this anxiety was to work extremely hard as a way of taking ones mind off the urgent question of ones ultimate fate. Later, many came to consider that if a believer became successful at his occupation, this might be a sign that he had divine favour and was therefore one of the saved. The link between successful work and salvation gradually changed, until people thought that the way to be saved was by becoming successful in business: thus, from being merely a sign of salvation, worldly success had become a means of achieving it: God helps those who help themselves. And so, said Weber, a set of religious beliefs formed an essential motivational basis for the rise of Western capitalism, even though this was an unintended consequence of the beliefs themselves. Think of some other examples of unintended consequences of religious beliefs. In Webers terms, religion was a starter motor which initiated a process that would eventually see religion discarded as a source of motivation in secularised capitalist societies. It should be emphasised that Weber did not argue that capitalism is a direct product of Protestant Christianity but that he saw religion as one important factor among several which contributed to the emergence of capitalism.
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What other factors led to the rise of capitalism? Just as Weber had seen the commercial impact of Protestantism in early twentieth-century Western Europe and America, some contemporary religious groups and beliefs are associated with economic growth in developing countries: they insist on a disciplined and frugal life, so there is a tendency for members to accumulate money and become upwardly mobile. Some types of religiosity may also be preferred by people in business occupations: this is what Weber called elective affinity the affinity between certain types of religion and certain classes of people. For example, religious teachings emphasising the fruit of hard work can be attractive to people who have a certain degree of control over their lives and can enjoy the benefits of their efforts. But such teachings might be harder to accept for people whose lives are dependent on changes and natural factors which they cannot influence with their own effort. Since the 1970s there has been a growing interest in the success of East Asian economies, and explanations have been given in terms of the importance of Asian or Confucian values. These explanations contradict Weber, who considered that Confucianism, with its centuries-long traditions of rejecting innovation and change, was a cause of the economic backwardness of China and the fact that capitalism had failed to develop there. Nowadays, it is argued that Weber underestimated the potential of Confucianism for generating disciplined effort and with it economic growth. Among Chinese entrepreneurs in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, the Confucian emphasis on strong family bonds has led to a high degree of loyalty and mutual obligation, which has allowed kinship networks to pool capital and create highly flexible family-run commercial enterprises. These are reinforced by Confucian values of hard work and frugality. The value placed on education is also said to have facilitated the upward mobility of Chinese people. On the other hand, the strong family orientation of Chinese businesses, and the low levels of trust outside the kinship group, are said to hinder the development of large corporations with rationalised management. If you live in Asia, are Chinese, or know some Chinese people, what do you think of this hypothesis of a positive relationship between Confucian values and capitalist development? How would a sociologist go about testing this hypothesis? Weber wrote his famous work The Protestant ethic and the Spirit of capitalism as part of a larger project studying all the major religious traditions in Europe and Asia, in an attempt to understand why capitalism had emerged in the Christian West and not in other cultures. But today, as non-Christian nations begin to emerge as powerful market economies, the focus of discussion and research is shifting to studying the links between local religions and traditions and the emergence of particular economic cultures within global capitalism. Evaluate the relationship between religion and the economic culture of your country or of a specific religious or ethnic group in your area. In what ways could the groups religious beliefs or practices promote or hinder economic development? What types of economic organisation and management style are favoured or hampered by your countrys religious culture?
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12.6 Secularisation
Now read Aldridge (2007) Chapters 4 and 5. Weber considered that although Protestantism had contributed to the birth of modern capitalism, capitalism then acquired an autonomous logic and dynamic that enabled it to continue developing without the influence of religion. Indeed, although Marx, Durkheim and Weber had different views on the function of religion in society, they agreed that religions influence was irreversibly declining. They lived in a period, at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when a modern, non-religious civilisation appeared to be triumphant throughout the world. The decline of the central influence of religion in society is called secularisation. Each of the three thinkers we have discussed focused on different dimensions of secularisation, and had different visions of a future, secularised world. Durkheim speculated on the shift from collectively oriented religion towards the cult of the individual. Weber saw the roots of secularisation in the subordination of all aspects of life to technological rationalisation, with its focus on effectiveness, efficiency, cost-benefit analysis and specialisation of tasks. In the drive to find the most rational, calculable means to reach specific ends, love, beauty, emotion, spirituality and all other intangible values are irrelevant. For the future, Weber foresaw an increasingly disenchanted world, an iron cage of bureaucratic rationality (see Chapter 4, section 4.2). For Marx, at each stage in history, peoples beliefs reflect the economic structure of their times. Marx considered secularisation to be the outcome of capitalism, which has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervour, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egoistic calculation. He considered that the decline of religion made it possible for humans to struggle here, in this world, for the perfection and bliss which, through religion, people had previously hoped for in the next world. But the realisation of such ideals would only occur under communism, which would generate its own intrinsic morality freed from alienation. At this point, review Marxs ideas on religion (see Chapter 4, section 4.2). The notion of secularisation has been hotly debated. If secularisation is taken to simply mean the decline of religion, it would appear that many parts of the world have never been secularised and that today, in other areas, the trend seems to be the opposite case of religion gaining influence. But if we look at the relationship between religion and the rest of society, a more subtle concept of secularisation can be helpful. Here the idea is that religion is no longer central to social organisation the way it was in pre-modern times. A number of processes have contributed to this fact. Try to think what they might be in your own words, then read on. Institutional differentiation has led to the specialisation of institutions in the spheres of politics, education, medicine, leisure, etc., which become autonomous and independent from religion. Privatisation means that religion is often seen as a purely private matter, irrelevant to public life. Pluralism implies that a single religion no longer holds a monopoly of truth and legitimacy.
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The combined result of these processes has been to marginalise religion from other social spheres, and to make religion into a matter of private choice between several competing beliefs, none of which can make a claim to absolute truth. In the twentieth century, many postcolonial governments deliberately adopted policies to promote secularisation as part of a drive to build a modern state and to overcome traditional thinking. Ideologies of nationalism or socialism which exalted a certain type of man, and elaborate state rituals and celebrations, aimed to foster a new civil religion that would unite the people around common nation-building goals. By the end of the twentieth century, however, these ideologies were increasingly cast into doubt, contested or even abandoned. In many countries, religious movements opposed secularisation and advocated a return to a society governed along religious principles. In some cases, such as Iran after 1979, these movements were able to take political power; in other cases, their ideas and organisations have become very influential in society. Why do you think secularism has been so hotly challenged in many parts of the world? Religious responses to secularisation have been varied. In many cases, religion has become adapted to secular society: certain forms of modern spirituality mentioned above are centred on the individual self. A spiritual marketplace has emerged, in which religious entrepreneurs offer religious and spiritual products and services such as books, videotapes, healing workshops and spiritual retreats. An opposite reaction is one of total rejection of secularisation, in which an ideal of a society run according to religious principles is upheld. An example of this position is that of extreme forms of political Islam, which aim to establish an Islamic theocracy. Intermediate positions can involve the creation of close-knit religious communities around which all aspects of life are organised: working in religious enterprises, sending children to religious schools, socialising with members of the same religious community, etc. Such an option doesnt try to change the overall secular culture, but protects members from it through an intense community life covering all needs. Another option is greater involvement by religious groups in public affairs: while accepting the fact of a secular society, religious groups also attempt to contribute to the shaping of public opinion and public policy on moral and ethical issues such as abortion, marriage and contraception; on educational and social issues such as moral education, social cohesion or the environment; or on political issues such as foreign policy or international development. Activity 12.13 To what extent has your country become a secularised society? Consider the place of religious communities in your society, in relation to other social institutions. Is the influence of religion increasing or decreasing? When religion is marginalised in a secular society, is there anything else that can take up its role in enhancing social integration? Do you think it is important or necessary for a society to have the sort of social cohesion associated with a high level of religion?
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12.7 Religion, modernity and globalisation

Now read Aldridge (2007) Chapters 6 and 9. I mentioned in Section 12.4 on religion and social conflict that one thing to look at when trying to understand religious conflict is how globalisation can lead to the reinforcement of religious identities. In this section, lets consider this issue by beginning with the relationship between religion and modernity.
Religion and modernity

Over the past two centuries, the emergence of modern civilisation has been accompanied by the destruction or the weakening of traditional modes of thinking and forms of social organisation. The process of modernisation was openly advocated by many thinkers and reformers. For them, religion was part of the traditional worldview and customs that would eventually be replaced by modern thinking and social organisation. As we have seen above, Marx was one holder of this view. Today, however, sociologists have observed that modernity has not led to the disappearance of religion, but rather, to changes in the forms of religion and their place in society. One of the biggest changes to occur has been that in modern societies, people have a greater freedom and opportunity to choose their own religion or religious path. This is in contrast to traditional societies, where most people automatically belong to the religious community of their parents, and where most people in a given village or community share the same religion: religion is not a matter of personal choice. In modern times, traditional society has been weakened, and is usually less able to impose its religious traditions on the younger generation, who may well choose not to be religious, or to join a different religion. At the same time, higher levels of education, the greater circulation of people, and greater access to information, mean that more religious options are available to people than in the past. These options include new religious movements which propose new interpretations or combinations of traditional religious teachings, or even entirely new revelations or doctrines. Has this process occurred in your country or area? What type of religious beliefs and practices were people traditionally expected to have in your area? Is that still the case? In traditional societies, people usually inherited their identities from their parents and from their communities. But in modern societies people increasingly choose and create their own identities including in terms of their religious beliefs and practices. What religious options are available to choose from in your area? An extreme form of this tendency is for people to become religious consumers, where they do not join a single religious community but shop around for spiritual experiences, books and courses, making up their own combinations of beliefs and practices that mix up elements from many religions. Does this phenomenon exist in your area? What are the implications of this phenomenon for organised religion and for social integration?
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While traditional forms of religion have thus been weakened under the pressures of modernity, religious movements have also emerged that have attempted to adapt to modern thinking, or to face the challenge of modernity. One of these, religious liberalism, stresses the individuals personal judgment in deciding how to live a religious life in the context of the times and place she lives in. The religious liberal will usually try to uphold the noble values of the religious tradition, while discarding certain customs and rules that are seen as incompatible with modern life. Opposed to religious liberalism are fundamentalist movements, which hold that the original teachings of the religion have been distorted or buried by the accumulation over the years of various human ideas, customs, or traditions which have nothing to do with the pure religious teachings. Fundamentalists try to eliminate such additions and to literally implement the religious doctrines exactly as they are set out in religious scriptures such as the Bible or the Quran, and to recreate the community of the religions early days. Do liberal and fundamentalist currents exist in religious communities in your area? Which type of approach is becoming most popular today? Why? Which approach do you feel the most affinity with? Why? Both religious liberalism and fundamentalism are religious responses to modernity. Although both try to move beyond the limitations of traditional religion, both solutions have their problems. By adapting to and, some would say, compromising with modern values, liberalism does not offer a clear alternative for people who are disenchanted, marginalised, or otherwise unhappy with the consequences of modernity. Fundamentalism, on the other hand, offers a clear critique of modern moral conditions but the solution proposed, based on models elaborated under radically different conditions many centuries ago, is often difficult, if not impossible, to implement in our times. Fundamentalist groups thus tend to find themselves in tension with the rest of society. This tension can reinforce conflicting visions of the relations between in-group and out-group. At the same time, it can be attractive to people who are not satisfied with the current moral and social order, and seek an alternative to it. In your country, which groups or classes of people are unhappy with current moral and social conditions? What are their most common complaints? How would a sociologist find out if such people would tend to adhere to fundamentalist religious movements? For much of the twentieth century, the oppressed and disadvantaged tended to favour socialist ideology and Marxist revolution rather than religion. Since the end of the twentieth century, however, fundamentalist religion has become one of the most common expressions of resistance to prevailing social conditions. How do you think this shift can be explained?
Religion and globalisation

One of the effects of modernity has been to weaken traditional communities. This effect is compounded by globalisation, in which flows of capital, goods, information, and people are increasingly indifferent to national borders. Look back at section 12.7. How do you think religion is affected by globalisation?
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Globalisation is an important phenomenon in religion. Some religions, such as Christianity and Islam, have always been universal in outlook: the Roman Catholic Church is the worlds oldest transnational organisation; while the notion of the Islamic community (ummah) is one of the earliest expressions of the idea of a worldwide community of people transcending ethnic, racial and national borders. In past centuries, however, owing to limited means of communication, religious universalism was more of an abstract idea than a reality. In practice, there was little contact between communities of the same religion in distant parts of the world, which, over time, often took on highly localised characteristics. The increasing speed and facility of communications over the past two centuries, and especially the past decades, however, has made it easy for religious people and ideas to reach believers in all corners of the world, bringing closer to reality the idea of a global religious community. At the same time, owing to migration and the spread of religious teachers and missionaries, one can now find a great diversity of religions even in some of the most remote parts of the world. This phenomenon can be observed not only in the traditionally universalistic religions such as Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, but also in indigenous religions, such as Daoism and Hinduism, which were previously associated with the local beliefs and customs of China and India. Chinese and Indian immigrants exported their religion to Western countries, where they began to attract followers of European and other ethnic backgrounds. International networks and associations now connect temples and communities in Asia, North America and Europe. Make a list of the different religious communities in your area. Which of those religions is indigenous (native to your area) and which ones were introduced from abroad? For the latter, when were they first introduced to your area? If you decided to visit a local religious group for Activity 12.8, did they have any international contacts? How would a sociologist find out the nature and intensity of such contacts? Part of the process of globalisation is thus the emergence of global religious networks and communities. At the same time, two trends of social change are conducive to the expansion of global religion: In a globalised society, many people feel that their values and traditions are threatened by larger global forces. At the same time, increasing numbers of people feel connected to the broader world stretching beyond their local community and country; they are not satisfied with narrow local identities. Do you share such feelings? How about other people in your area? These two conditions are conducive to the expansion of globalised religion. On the one hand, globalised religion, especially of the fundamentalist variety, provides an explicit critique and alternative to global capitalisms erosion of morality. It offers a defence of traditional values in a context where local traditional customs and ways of living are weakened or have already disappeared. On a local level, then, globalised religion offers a way to safeguard the traditional moral values that are threatened by modernity and capitalism.
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On the other hand, by joining a globalised religion, one enters a worldwide community, linking people from all over the world around a common faith. Here, religion offers a new, global identity that transcends local, ethnic and national identities, and is adapted to the emergence of global society. Does the religious group you studied in Activity 12.8 provide a global identity? If yes, in what way does it give its members a sense of connection to a larger, global community? In section 12.4 on religion and conflict, I mentioned that one thing to look at in understanding religious conflict is to see how the weakening of other types of identity can lead people to seek for a religious identity. In the above sections, I made the point that modernity and globalisation have weakened traditional identities, but that religion has adopted modern and global forms that are well adapted to the new social reality. Globalised religion is thus well-positioned to provide people with a new sense of identity. But the identity provided by a religion is also associated with a perception of the relation between the in-group and the out-group. In a globalised religion covering the whole planet, the boundary between the in-group and the out-group is also a worldwide one. How this relationship is perceived and managed can thus have important repercussions for the degree of integration or conflict in a globalised society. Activity 12.14 Religious attitudes to global identity Using the internet or library resources, find out how the following religious groups or movements perceive and practice the relationship between the in-group and out-group in todays global society (bearing in mind that a diversity of approaches can exist within the same group). What are the implications of these attitudes for world conflict or world social integration? Bahai Buddhism Evangelical Protestantism Islam The New Age Movement Roman Catholicism.
A reminder of your learning outcomes

Having completed this chapter, and the Essential reading and Activities, you should be able to: explain religious phenomena from a sociological angle consider and critically evaluate various sociological concepts, theories and methods as they are applied to religion describe how religion fits into overall processes of modernity and globalisation.
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Sample examination questions

1. Account for changes in religious behaviour and practice during the last 50 years. 2. How can sociologists understand and explain religious behaviour? 3. Using both the theory and methods of sociology, and with reference to specific examples, discuss one of the following relationships: Religion and modernity Religion and globalisation Religion and identity Religion and gender Religion and geopolitics Religion, social conflict and social cohesion. 4. Discuss the changes in religious beliefs, practices, and behaviour (in the past 50 years) in any one society. 5. Discuss a social issue related to religion by explaining the type of questions and methods a sociologist would use to research it.
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Chapter 12: Religion and society

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Aims of the chapter

And one chapter chosen from:

Further reading detailed recommendations

On religion and globalisation, you can consult:

A good, short introduction to religious fundamentalism is:

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Religious influences on society and culture

Religion and current events

Chapter 12: Religion and society

12.1 Defining religion

Chapter 12: Religion and society

12.2 Sociological research on religion

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Researching a religious issue

Chapter 12: Religion and society

12.3 Religion and social integration

See Chapter 2, section 2.4 and Chapter 4, section 4.2.

Chapter 12: Religion and society

12.4 Religion and social conflict

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Chapter 12: Religion and society

12.5 Religion and economic culture

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Chapter 12: Religion and society

12.7 Religion, modernity and globalisation

Religion and modernity

Religion and globalisation

Chapter 12: Religion and society

A reminder of your learning outcomes

Chapter 12: Religion and society

Sample examination questions

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Religion & Society

Religion & Society