Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Sociology: Beliefs > Main Theorists > Flashcards

Main Theorists Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Sociology 101 flashcards
1
Q

Durkheim (F)

A
  • Functional definition - RE contributes to social integration.
  • Religions maintains value consensus, order + solidarity.
  • Rituals help to maintain a collective conscience, e.g. Australian Aboriginal tribe.
  • Conservative force - functions to maintain social stability + prevent society from disintegrating.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

Malinowski (F)

A
  • Religion promotes psychological functions, helping to cope with emotional stress in uncontrollable situations.
  • e.g. Trobriand Islanders.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

Parsons (F)

A
  • Legitimises society’s basic norms + promotes value consensus / social stability.
  • Answers ultimate questions about life.
  • Structural differentiation - religion dominated preindustrial, but industrialisation became smaller / specialised.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Bellah (F)

A
  • Civil Religion - religion unites society, e.g. American’s belief in God + loyalty to the nation state.
  • Criticism: church + state are increasingly separated.
  • Nationalism acts as a civil religion - integrates individuals into social / politics units, making them feel apart of something.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

Marx (M)

A
  • Opium of the Masses - religion dulls pain of exploitation.
  • Conservative ideology - prevent social change by creating a false class consciousness, preventing a revolution.
  • Nationalism is a false class consciousness that prevents the overthrowing of capitalism by dividing international workers.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Lenin (M)

A

Spiritual Gin - religion is used to confuse the l/c + keep them in their place.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Althusser (M)

A
  • Ideological State Apparatus - religion perpetuates + reproduces dominant ideologies..
  • Influences values + behaviours, ensuring their compliance, e.g. behave well do go to heaven.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

Weber (M)

A
  • Substantive definition - belief in a supernatural power that is above nature + cannot be explained scientifically.
  • Social change - Protestant ethic contributed to the birth of capitalism; developed through their values + views, e.g. asceticism + work ethic.
  • Kautsky: capitalism preceded Calvinism.
  • Disenchantment - Protestant Reformation started the process of Rationalisation - rational ways of thinking have replaced religious ones due to technological advancements.
  • Theodicy of Deprivilege - sects appeal to w/c by offering an explanation for their suffering.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Maduro (M)

A
  • Religion can be a revolutionary force that helps to bring about social change.
  • Marxists: Liberation Theology helped to bring democracy, but didn’t threaten capitalism.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Gramsci (N-M)

A
  • Hegemony - r/c maintain control through popular consent, so less need for coercion.
  • Dual character - religion can support the w/c see through exploitation + support their situations, e.g. trade unions.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Armstrong (F)

A
  • Stained Glass Ceiling - women are prevented from entering higher positions within the church, e.g. priesthood.
  • Hostility towards West is a reaction to western foreign policy in the M.E, e.g. oppressive regimes that support Israel.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Daly (F)

A

Catholic church eliminated religions with female gods - subordination to men (God’s Will).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

De Beauvoir (F)

A
  • Conservative force - ideology that legitimises patriarchal power + maintains women’s subordination.
  • Religion is used by men to oppress women, e.g. men use God to justify their control.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

El Sadaawi (F)

A

Religious Patriarchy - result of patriarchal forms re-shaping religion, religion is not oppressive, but culture.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Woodhead (F)

A
  • NAMs appeal to women’s inner self due to the lack of restrictive roles.
  • However, some are attracted to fundamentalism, with prescribed traditional gender roles.
  • Traditional religion is patriarchal, but ‘religious forms of feminism’, e.g. hijab as a symbol of liberation + respect without losing their culture + history.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

Nanda

A
  • Hindu beliefs + Telegurus have preached that wealth isn’t bad, leading to a rapid economic growth among the m/c Indians.
  • Indians working in IT, biotech + pharmaceuticals - values have led to economic productivity + accumulation of capital.
  • Study of Developing Nations: 30% of Indians said they were becoming more religious.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Berger

A
  • Pentecostalism (Lehmann): offers an opportunity for the poor to pull themselves out of poverty through their own efforts - work ethic raises society (Latin America) out of poverty.
  • Religious diversity undermines religion’s plausibility structure - believability, making people question religion.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

Bruce

A
  • American Civil Rights vs New Christian Right.
  • Middle Ages: religion was central to society: it had enormous power, wealth + played a key part in law making / politics.
  • Predicts that by 2030, the Methodist Church will fold + CoE will be a small voluntary organisation
  • America is increasingly secular: declining church attendance; trend towards relativism + diversity; secularisation from within.
  • Technological Worldview - scientific explanations have replaced supernatural ones.
  • Monotheistic religions are more likely to produce fundamentalism as they are based on an authoritative text.
  • Cultural Defence - religion serves to unite a community against external threats - cultural identity.
  • NRM provides a sense of identity + techniques that promise success in the world.
  • Growth of sects + cults is a response to social changes involved in modernisation + secularisation.
  • w/c women are attracted to fatalistic ideas around superstition, horoscopes + lucky charms.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

Billings (M)

A

Religion can support + challenge classes, e.g. coal miners improved their situation due to organic intellectuals (lay preachers).

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Wilson

A
  • Secularisation - process where religious beliefs, practices + institutions have lost social significance.
  • 45% of Americans attended church on Sundays; however churchgoing was an American way of life instead of holding deep religious beliefs - secular as religion is superficial.
  • Adventist cults - hold themselves separate from the world, preventing them from becoming a denomination.
  • Sects formed through anomie - normlessness.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Hadaway

A

Head counts vs attendance claimed (interview) was exaggerated by 83%.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Lynd + Lynd

A
  • In 1924, 94% of churchgoers believed that ‘Christianity is the one true religion’.
  • Compared to 41% in 1977.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Lyon

A
  • Jesus in Disneyland - religion is consumerist.
  • Believing without belonging due to increase in media, growth of consumerisms + globalisation.
  • Period of re-enchantment (Weber) through the growth of unconventional beliefs, practices + spirituality.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Woodhead + Heelas

A
  • Disappearance thesis - religion has lost significance for individual + society, which will eventually disappear.
  • Differentiation thesis - religion is in a social decline, but not individual decline as personal beliefs are still strong.
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

Stark + Bainbridge

A
  • Claim secularisation theory is Eurocentric.
  • Religious Market theory: people are naturally religious; make choices based on the benefits of available options.
  • Sectarian Cycle: schism; initial fervour; denominationalism; establishment; further schism.
  • Relatively deprived break away from churches to form sects.
26
Q

Finke

A

Popularity of Asian faiths, e.g. Transcendental Meditation - cult.

27
Q

Davie

A
  • Believing Without Belonging - people hold religious beliefs but don’t go to church.
  • Fundamentalism - those who hold orthodox beliefs feel threatened by modernity + need to protect themselves.
  • Seek to establish certainty against social + cultural chaos.
28
Q

Helland

A
  • Religion Online - religious organisations use internet to address members + partial converts.
  • Online Religion - cyber-religion that’s only on the internet.
29
Q

Voas + Crockett

A
  • As religion declines in importance, each generation becomes less religious.
  • Younger are less religious.
30
Q

Postmodernists

A
  • Increasing diversity has fragmented collective conscience.
  • Science is one of a number of meta-narratives.
  • Science has promised progress, but initiates war + genocide, so people turn to NAMs for truth within ourselves.
31
Q

Hervieu-Leger

A
  • Decline in institutional religion due to cultural amnesia (handed down).
  • Spiritual shoppers - choose beliefs that give meaning to our lives + fit in with our interests + aspirations.
32
Q

Norris + Ingelhart

A
  • Existential Security theory - current elderly generation are religious due to less secure upbringing (+ EM + women).
  • Countries with high levels of participation + church has a near monopoly, e.g. Catholic countries like Venezuela.
33
Q

Giddens

A
  • Reaction to globalisation, which undermines traditional + social norms.
  • Cosmopolitanism - tolerance + open to other views.
34
Q

Bauman

A

Fundamentalism is a response to the uncertainty + risk within a postmodern society.

35
Q

Castells

A
  • Resistance Identity - defensive reaction + feel threatened.
  • Project Identity - forward-looking + engaging.
36
Q

Fundamentalism

A
  • Authoritative Sacred Text - Christian fundamentalists interpret the text as historical fact + prophecies (Aldridge).
  • Them vs Us Mentality - fundamentalists separate themselves from the rest of the world as they seek to establish islands of certainty against social + cultural chaos (Davie).
  • Aggressive Reaction - e.g. Bruce: New Christian Right.
  • Patriarchy - fundamentalists favour traditional roles that control women’s sexuality + social roles (Hawley).
37
Q

Ansell

A
  • Secular fundamentalism is a form of cultural racism.
  • e.g. France banning religious symbols in schools, France banning women from wearing veils in public.
38
Q

Huntington

A
  • Clash of Civilisation - religious differences between civilisations are a major source of conflict.
  • Religious differences are creating a set of hostile ‘us vs them’ relationship with increased competition.
39
Q

Troeltsch

A
  • Churches: large organisations; bureaucratic hierarchy; claim monopoly of truth.
  • Sects: small, exclusive groups; hostile to wider society; attract poor + oppressed members; charismatic leader.
40
Q

Niebuhr

A
  • Denominations: don’t appeal to the whole of society; accept society’s values; not linked to the state; tolerant of other religious organisations.
  • Cults: individualistic, small group; tolerant; lack of strong commitment.
  • Sects are world-rejecting organisations that split from an established church over disagreements; short lived.
  • Second generation + death of a leader.
41
Q

Wallis

A
  • Churches + sects claim correct faith; denominations + cults accept other valid interpretations.
  • New Religious Movements (NRMs): world-rejecting; affirming + accommodating.
  • m/c who feel relatively deprived turn to sects for a sense of community.
42
Q

Miller + Hoffman

A
  • Women are socialised to be passive, obedient + caring - qualities are valued by religions.
  • Women’s gender roles means more likely to work part-time or be full-time carers with spare time to practise religion.
43
Q

Walter + Davie

A
  • Gender Role Socialisation.
  • Women feel closer to God due to their involvement in the creation of life.
44
Q

Brierly

A
  • Female churchgoers outnumber men by half a million.
  • Growth in new churches in London catering to specific languages + nationalities.
  • Only group to show a recent rise in church attendance is the 65+ age group.
45
Q

Bird

A
  • Cultural transition.
  • Religion among minorities is a basis for community solidarity, meant to preserve culture + cope with oppressive society,
46
Q

Pryce

A

Black-led churches in the UK.

47
Q

Herberg

A

Religion eases the transition into a new culture by providing support + sense of community in the new environment.

48
Q

Collins-Mayo

A

Youth don’t feel obligated to affiliate themselves with church / religion.

49
Q

Popper

A
  • Science is an open belief system.
  • Falsification - knowledge claims can be falsified + be disproved.
  • Horton: religion makes knowledge claims that cannot be successfully overturned.
50
Q

Evans-Pritchard

A
  • Religion is a closed belief system/
  • Azande are stuck in their own ‘idiom of belief’, where challenging beliefs reinforces their own.
51
Q

Merton

A
  • Scientific norms (open) - CUDOS:
  • Communism - shared with scientific community.
  • Universalism - all scientists are equal.
  • Disinterestedness - publish truthful findings.
  • Organised Scepticism - all knowledge in science can be challenged.
52
Q

Polanyi

A
  • Science is a closed belief system.
  • Denial of Legitimacy to Rivals - reject alternate worldviews, e.g. Dr was boycotted.
  • Scientists rejected / shut out from scientific world, goes against universalism (Merton).
53
Q

Kuhn

A
  • Science is a closed belief system.
  • Paradigms - guidelines on how to conduct research.
54
Q

Woolgar

A

Scientific facts are a social construction that scientists persuade their colleagues to share.

55
Q

Marxism

A
  • Science is driven by the need of capitalism for certain types of knowledge, e.g. develop new weaponry.
  • r/c’s ideology is used to oppress the w/c + justify the status quo (social divide).
56
Q

Feminism

A
  • Biological ideas have been used to justify male domination.
  • Patriarchal ideologies in science + religion have defined women as inferior, e.g. women are ritually impure due to menstruation - cannot touch the Quran.
57
Q

Lyotard

A
  • Monopoly of truth.
  • Science falsely claims to possess the truth.
58
Q

Aldridge

A
  • Inclusive definitions of religions prevent sociologists from asserting whether religion is growing, stable or in decline, e.g. Scientology - can be challenged.
  • Theological stage - supernatural beliefs.
  • Metaphysical - explaining through nature.
  • Scientific - explanation through evidence.
59
Q

Bowles + Gintis

A

Myth of Meritocracy - portrays the w/c as less intelligent.

60
Q

Mannheim

A
  • Distinguishes between:
  • Utopian Thought - justifies social change.
  • Ideological Thought - interests of privileged groups.

Sociology: Beliefs (8 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2024 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions