Main Theorists 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.
2
Q
Malinowski (F)
A
- Religion promotes psychological functions, helping to cope with emotional stress in uncontrollable situations.
- e.g. Trobriand Islanders.
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.
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.
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.
6
Q
Lenin (M)
A
Spiritual Gin - religion is used to confuse the l/c + keep them in their place.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
12
Q
Daly (F)
A
Catholic church eliminated religions with female gods - subordination to men (God’s Will).
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.
14
Q
El Sadaawi (F)
A
Religious Patriarchy - result of patriarchal forms re-shaping religion, religion is not oppressive, but culture.
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.
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.
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.
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.
19
Q
Billings (M)
A
Religion can support + challenge classes, e.g. coal miners improved their situation due to organic intellectuals (lay preachers).
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.
21
Q
Hadaway
A
Head counts vs attendance claimed (interview) was exaggerated by 83%.
22
Q
Lynd + Lynd
A
- In 1924, 94% of churchgoers believed that ‘Christianity is the one true religion’.
- Compared to 41% in 1977.
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.
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.
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.
