Key Thinkers Flashcards
Durkheim (1895)
FUNCTIONALIST ÷ between sacred vs profane Promotes v consensus, social solidarity, collective conscience Totemism - Australian Aborigines Symbolically worship S
Malinowski
FUNCTIONALIST Ethnography = response to psychological needs of S Times of uncertainty Coping mechanism Gives members sense of control
Parsons (1950s)
FUNCTIONALIST
Uses D’s + M’s ideas
Gives individuals sense of meaning
Mechanism of adjustment after social tragedies
Bellah (1967)
NEO-FUNCTIONALIST
How = v consensus in USA (multi-faith)?
Civil religion
Collective rituals
Marx (1884)
1ST CRITICAL VIEW OF REL Maintains class ÷ 2 ideological functions Instrument of oppression Cushion effects of oppression THEODICY OF DISPRIVILEGE Opium of the people Prevents revolution
Lenin
USE AFTER MARX
Spiritual gin
= way to escape + numb effects of capitalism
Gramsci
NEO-MARXIST
Beliefs = no less important that economic forces
Hegemony - rc dominate minds of proletariat
Rel = used for maintaining control
CAN be used to challenge dominant rc ideology
Maduro
NEO-MARXIST
Builds on Gramsci (puts ides into practice)
Developing countries where church = dominant, religion has power to create social change
e.g. Latin America
Althusser
NEO-MARXIST
ISAs
RSAs (repressive)
CAN create social change but needs to get past RSAa
Woodhead
Lack of W in hierarchy if church reflects religions general rejection of liberation of W
Some religions provide W with role + status in family
Give purpose + role in life
Walby
W’s denial of power = reflected in religious teachings
Encourages housewife role
e.g. Virgin Mary = role model
Woodhead + Heelas
Many W converted to Orthodox Judaism
- given clear role to fulfil
- removed conflicting roles placed in modern life
Aldridge
Islam = patriarchal
Veiling - powerful symbol
Strips W of ID
Leaves W invisible + forces anonymity
Watson
Aldridge = ethnocentric
Veil = symbol of liberation
Enter pubic sphere + avoid male gaze
Hervieu-Leger
POSTMODERNISM Rel participation = changed Decline in traditional institutions Rel = personal choice 'Spiritual shoppers', consumers of choice Pick and Mix to fit ID No longer source of collective ID BUT does continue to have influence
Lyon
POSTMODERNISM
Agrees with Hervieu-Leger
Rel = commodity, consumers of rel
Globalisation = increased choice (res can cross national boundaries)
Relocation of rel - disembodied from ‘real life’
Can be experienced via internet/ media
Rel Harvest Day Crusade (Disneyland)
Bauman
POSTMODERNISM
Individuals are still drawn to rel
Postmodernity = led to ‘crisis of meaning’
No longer stable sense of morality/ universal truths
Fragmentation = decline in collective values
People turn to religion for moral guidelines
Weber
Founding father
INTERPRETIVIST
1st suggest studying S in MICRO way
Verstehen, should empathise
Individs attach meaning to beliefs/ practices
Calvinism, 3 beliefs - led to development C
Calvinist rel, gave individual framework to attach their meanings to actions
ID churches in traditional typologies
Berger
INTERPRETIVIST
Rel helps individuals find meaning in meaningless world
‘Universe of meaning’ - answers life Qs
‘Sacred canopy’ - stretches over S + protects individuals from uncertainties
Without re, life = meaningless for many
Nelson
Rel can spearhead resistance + revolution
e.g. Archbishop Tutu’s (apartheid)
McGuire
Can lead to social change BUT only in right conditions Recognises not all religions/ Ss = same 4 key factors 1. Beliefs + practices 2. Culture 3. Organisations Rship to S 4. Presence of centralised authority
Wilson
social change + sects
Modern day S = subjected rapid social change
Leds to uncertainty + anomie due lack of shared values
As result people turn to rel organisations (e.g. sects, have strict rules)
Troeltsch (1931)
Describes difference between sects + churches - different organisations
Led to identification of cults
(traditional typology)
Niebuhr (1925)
Introduced denominations
Inbetween churches + sects
(traditional typology)
Sects = short lived (3 - members, generation, death/ denomination)
Yinger
Some sects survive - become established
Isolated from mainstream S
e.g. Amish in Pennsylvania
Ashworth + Farthing (2007)
Those in professional occupations/ management roles = more likely to attend church
Bruce + Heelas
Cults + NAMs appeal to those who = fulfilled in other areas of their life
i. e. those who = successful + wealthy but lacking something spiritually
- fills void
Voas + Crockett
- Ageing effect - people = more religious when closer to death, comfort
- Generational effect - older people = socialised at time when rel = popular + prominent (most sig factor)
Secularisation, no longer case
3 reasons why young people = less rel
Davie
‘Belief without belonging’
Miller + Hoffman
W = seen as ‘guardians of family life’
Attending church = seen as part of W’s role
- installing religious values in children
Trzebiatowska + Bruce (2012)
M = influenced by growing secularisation of S before W
Leads to congregations = dominated by W
Bruce
gender
Males + females = socialised differently
Females encouraged to be more nurturing + emotional + be more involved with issues of MORALITY (embedded in religion)
Bruce
ethnicity
Rel acts as source of support, provides sense of ID as response to uncertainty + potential racism/ hostility faced when joining new S
Way to maintain traditional values
Johal
Young British Asians
Hybrid IDs - ‘Brasian’
Combination of British/ Asian values
e.g. values religious beliefs of parents BUT reject cultural traditions (arranged marriages)
Comte
Religion = eventually disappear, science = dominant
Wilson
secularisation
Decline in church attendance in UK (2010 = 6%, now 2%)
Average of church attender = 51
Organisation = seen declines in power/ wealth/ influence (especially in Ed)
Scientific discoveries explains lots of events (natural disasters) religious explanations seem less credible
Turn more to science for answers
Bruce
secularisation
Church + state = more separate
Lots of religion to choose from - reinforces that beliefs = personal preference
Leads to competition, undermines credibility
UK - some ideas = altered down/ abandoned e.g heaven vs hell, virgin birth
Parsons
secularisation
Structural differentiation
Rel = increasingly specialised + performs fear functions
Martin
Church today has more influence in spiritual matters
Doesn’t necessarily indicate decline in rel
Weber
secularisation
Process of ‘dymstification’ in which would be ‘disentachment of the world’
World = becoming increasingly dominated with rational ideas, not magic/ supernatural
Herberg
USA - decline in authentic religion
Become part of their ‘way of life’
Church attendance = way of expressing American ID rather than religious beliefs
Glock + Starck
5 core dimensions of religiosity More about people's feeling + motives 1. Belief 2. Practice 3. Experience 4. Knowledge 5. Consequences
Kendall project
Heelas + Woodhead
Tested spiritual revolution thesis (claims spiritual revolution = occurring, growth in NAMs)
2 possible trends
1. Secularisation theorists (decline in trad)
2. Sacralisation theorists (growth in NAMs)
Davie
Vicarious religion
Belief without belonging
