Lecture 8 Flashcards
Sociology of Religion
•Sociologists of religion Interested in:
•Religious beliefs/practices
•Intersection of religious beliefs/social institutions
Questions
•How are certain sets of beliefs legitimized?
•What is constructed as being a religion?
•What are the power relations embedded in these processes?
•Who gets to decide whether a religion is really a religion? (Beaman, in Tepperman and Albanese, 2018)
Why was religion not taken seriously with discipline
Until recently – religion not taken seriously within discipline of sociology
•Two reasons:
-Accepted notion –secular society
-Marxist tradition of this discipline – Marx – concerned with power of religion
Religion in Profile
From Canadian demographic perspective:
•Historically – mainstream Christianity dominant
•Includes:
Roman Catholicism
Protestant groups (United Church of Canada, Anglican Church of Canada)
•Other groups – small, but changing landscape
- In general – affiliated with religion of parents/grandparents
- Even if don’t attend church
- Church attendance – one measure of religious commitment •Accordingly, limited understanding
Religion in Profile (2)
historical presence of religious groups
•2011: 67.3% identify as Christian
•Historical presence dating to late 1800s shows presense of: Jews, Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus
•Religious demographic – changing
•1981-1991: 144% increase in “other non-Christian religions”
•Growth: Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Hindu
Christian communities – decrease in attendance/belonging
•Religious “nones”
- 2001: 16.5%, 2011: 23.9%
•None – amalgamation: Atheists, Humanists, Agnostics, Indifferent
Functional definitions of religion
- What does religion do for – social group/individual
- Dominant Theme: social cohesion
- “…how religion offers a sense of connectedness to others and to a larger picture.” (Beaman, 276 in Tepperman and Albanese, 2018)
Substantive definitions of religion
- What religion is
- What doesn’t count
- “…attempt to define religion by examining its core elements, most typically a belief in a higher being, a set of prescribed beliefs and rituals and so on.” (Beaman, 276 in Tepperman and Albanese, 2018)
Theories of Religion and Secularization
•Secularization “…the process by which religion increasingly loses influence.” (Beaman, 280 in Tepperman and Albanese, 2018).
•Narrative – society very religious
•Church and State – no separation
•Enlightenment – science replaced religion
•Measures of secularization:
-Individual participation in religious activities “threat”
•influence of religion in Level of social institutions
- Canada:
- Davie – “believing without belonging”
- “…while many Canadians still cite an affiliation with organized religion at census time, many of them do not have much, or any, contact with the churches to which they say they belong.” (Beaman, 276 in Tepperman and Albanese, 2018)
The Quiet Revolution
•“Classic story of secularization”
•Quebec
•Established church – Roman Catholic Church – large role in personal and institutional lives of citizens
Schools/hospitals/public life – intertwined
The Quiet Revolution
•“A time of seemingly abrupt social change and secularization that took place in Quebec in the late 1960s.” (Beaman, 291 in Tepperman and Albanese, 2018).
Politics and Social Movements - Power
- Weber: power is “…the capacity to realize one’s will despite the resistance of others.” (Hart, Ramos, Stanbridge and Veugelers, 294, in Tepperman and Albanese)
- Do what you want, when you want
- Relational – not fixed – dynamic
- Constantly contested
- For sociologists – power - series of social/political processes
The State and Power
- Western societies – greatest concentration of power found within the state
- Only institution –legal right – tax people, legally detain people in prison, conscripted into military – permit or forced to commit murder
- Policies and laws – governing behavior, restrict how people conduct business
- Sets rules –by which other social processes ordered
•State leaders – shape social processes •Three broad groups: -Material -Cultural and Social -Institutional
Material Processes
- Political sociologists interested in why/how money operates as source of power
- they View: possession/control of material resources – central to politics
- Material resources – money – but also property, tech., natural resources
- Materialists – “…the more material resources a person, group, institution or state has, the greater their capacity to realize their will over others and to exercise and challenge power.” (Hart, Ramos, Stanbridge and Veugelers, 296, in Tepperman and Albanese)
- Power determined by possession of material resources – Karl Marx
Cultural and Social Processes
- Weber – power other than material
- Status – social prestige
- Antonio Gramsci looked at how culture affects politics
- “…elites “manufactured” the consent of the masses by communicating ideals supportive of the status quo…this was accomplished through political and cultural mechanisms like the state, schools, religious institutions and the media.” (Hart, Ramos, Stanbridge and Veugelers, 299, in Tepperman and Albanese)
•Pierre Bourdieu
•Cultural capital:
“…cultural and linguistic competence, such as prestigious knowledge, tastes, preferences and educational expertise and credentials that individuals possess and that influences the likelihood of their educational and occupational success.” (Hart, Ramos, Stanbridge and Veugelers, 316, in Tepperman and Albanese)
•Social capital:
“…the power that is derived from ties to social networks…” (Hart, Ramos, Stanbridge and Veugelers, 316, in Tepperman and Albanese)
Institutional Processes
- Institutions – set boundaries of social interaction
- Rule/guidelines –social relations
- Shape political outcomes
- Institutions – exhibit:
- Inertia – stable, modification only with effort
- Path dependence – effect later decision making
- Can help/hinder – contestation of power
What is a social movement?
•Social movements:
“…try to achieve change through the voluntary cooperation of those challenging power-holders.” (Hart, Ramos, Stanbridge and Veugelers, 304, in Tepperman and Albanese)
•Participants:
•Contribute financial/material resources
•Recruitment of new members
•Spread counter-ideology
•Sit-ins, boycotts, flash mobs, demonstrations, protest marches
- Aim – change:
- Attitudes
- Everyday practices
- Public opinion
- Policies and procedures
- Other social movements
- Participation voluntary
- Voluntary associations
The Global Future of Social Movements?
- Requirement – 3 factors:
- Framing of grievances –global grievances
- Worldwide membership and organizational structure
- Collective identity – globalized identity
