Religion and Social Change Flashcards
Religion as a conservative force in two ways:
- Upholds traditional beliefs about how society should be organised eg church of england vows wife (love, honour and obey) husband (love and honor)
- Functions to preserve things as they are eg for feminists religion acts as a conservative force by legitimising patriarchal power, maintaining women subordination in the home
Weber’s (1905) study of The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism.
Weber argues that the religious beliefs of Calvinism (a form of Protestantism founded during the Reformation) helped to bring about major social change - specifically, the emergence of modern capitalism in Northern Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.
Calvinism had several distinctive beliefs.
Calvinist beliefs:
predestination, divine transcendence, ascetiscsm, vocation,
Predestination:
God had predetermined which souls would be saved - ‘the elect’ - and which would not, even before birth.
Divine transcendence:
God was so far above and beyond this world and so incomparably greater than any mortal, that no human being could possibly claim to know his will (other than what he had chosen to reveal through the Bible). This included the Church and its priests - leaving the Calvinists to feel ‘an unprecedented inner loneliness’. When combined with the doctrine of predestination, this created what Weber calls a salvation panic in the Calvinists. They could not know whether they had been chosen to be saved, and they could not do anything to earn their salvation.
Asceticism:
abstinence, self-discipline and self-denial. eg, monks lead an ascetic existence, refraining from luxury, wearing simple clothes and avoiding excess in order to devote themselves to God and a life of prayer.
The idea of a vocation or calling:
Before Calvinism, the idea of a religious vocation (a calling to serve God) meant renouncing everyday life to join a convent or monastery. Weber calls this other-worldly asceticism. Calvinism introduces for the first time the idea of this-worldly asceticism. The only thing Calvinists knew of God’s plan for humanity came from the Bible, which revealed to them that we were put on the earth to glorify God’s name by our work. Thus for the Calvinists the idea of a calling or vocation meant constant, methodical work in an occupation, not in a monastery. However, work could not earn salvation - it was simply a religious duty.
Calvinsists wealth and success performed a psychological function for the Calvinists that allowed them to cope with their salvation panic:
As they grew wealthier, they took this as a sign of God’s favour and their salvation. This was contrary to their original doctrine that God’s will was unknowable.
Secondly, driven by their work ethic, they systematically and methodically accumulated wealth by the most efficient and rational means possible. But not permitting themselves to squander it on luxuries, they reinvested it in their businesses, which grew and prospered, producing further profit to reinvest and so on and on. In Weber’s view, this is the very spirit of modern capitalism - where the object is simply the acquisition of more and more money as an end in itself.
Evaluation
of Webers Calvinism: Weber’s work is often described as a ‘debate with Marx’s ghost’. Marx saw economic or material factors as the driving force of change, whereas Weber argues that material factors alone are not enough to bring about capitalism. As we have just seen, in Weber’s view, it also needed specific cultural factors - the beliefs and values of Calvinism - to bring it into being.
Karl Kautsky (1927)
Karl Kautsky (1927) argues that Weber overestimates the role of ideas and underestimates economic factors in bringing capitalism into being. He argues that in fact capitalism preceded rather than followed Calvinism.
evaluation of webers calvinsims: R.H. Tawney (1926)
R.H. Tawney (1926) argues that technological change, not religious ideas, caused the birth of capitalism It was only after capitalism was established that the bourgeoisie adopted Calvinist beliefs to legitimate their pursuit of economic gain.
Critiscms of Weber’s Calvinism
Weber has also been criticised because capitalism did not develop in every country where there were Calvinists. For example, Scotland had a large Calvinist population but was slow to develop capitalism. However, Weberians such as Gordon Marshall (1982) argue that this was because of a lack of investment capital and skilled labour - supporting Weber’s point that both material and cultural factors need to be present for capitalism to emerge.
Others argue that although Calvinists were among the first capitalists, this was not because of their beliefs but simply because theybecause they had been excluded by law from political office and many of the professions. They turned to business as one of the few alternatives open to them. However, Weberians reply that other religious minorities were also excluded in this way but did not become successful capitalists.
The American civil rights movement
Bruce describes the struggle of the Black civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s to end racial segregation in America as an example of religiously motivated social change. Although slavery had been abolished in 1865, Black people were denied legal and political rights in many Southern states where segregation was enforced.
The civil rights movement began in 1955 when Rosa Parks, refused to sit at the back of a bus, as Black passengers were expected to do. Campaigning involved direct action by Black people themselves, including protest marches, boycotts and demonstrations. Almost a decade later, in 1964, segregation was outlawed.
American Civil Rights Movement: Black Clergy:
Bruce describes the Black clergy as the backbone of the movement. Led by Dr Martin Luther King, they played a decisive role, giving support and moral legitimacy to civil rights activists.
Their churches provided meeting places and sanctuary from the threat of White violence, and rituals such as prayer meetings and hymn singing were a source of unity in the face of oppression.
Bruce argues that the Black clergy were able to shame White people into changing the law by appealing to their shared Christian values of equality.
Using the civil rights movement as an example, Bruce identifies several ways in which religious organisations are well equipped to support protests and contribute to social change:
- Taking the moral high ground Black clergy pointed out the hypocrisy of White clergy who preached ‘love thy neighbour’ but supported racial segregation.
- Channelling dissent Religion provides channels to express political dissent. For example, the funeral of Martin Luther King was a rallying point for the civil rights cause
- Acting as honest broker Churches can provide a context for negotiating change because they are often respected by both sides in a conflict and seen as standing above ‘mere politics’
- Mobilising public opinion Black churches in the South successfully campaigned for support across the whole of America.
Bruce sees the civil rights movement as an example of religion becoming involved in secular struggle and helping to bring about change. In his view, the movement achieved its aims because it shared the same values as wider society and those in power. It brought about change by shaming those in power to put into practice the principle of equality embodied in the American Constitution that all men and women are born equal.
The New Christian Right
The aims of the New Christian Right seek to take America
‘back to God’ and make abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage and divorce illegal, turning the clock back to a time before the liberalisation of American culture and society. traditional family and traditional gender roles. teaching of ‘creationism’ and to ban sex education in schools.
New Christian Right and Media
The New Christian Right has made effective use of the media and networking, notably televangelism, where church-owned television stations raise funds and broadcast programmes aimed at making converts and recruiting new members.
However, the New Christian Right has been largely unsuccessful in achieving its aims. Bruce suggests these reasons:
- Its campaigners find it very difficult to cooperate with people from other religious groups, even when campaigning on the same issue, such as abortion.
- It lacks widespread support and has met with strong opposition from groups who stand for freedom of choice.
Bruce describes the New Christian Right as a failed movement for change. Despite enormous publicity and a high profile in the media, it has not achieved its aim of taking America ‘back to God’. In his view, its attempt to impose Protestant fundamentalist morality on others has failed because of the basically liberal and democratic values of most of American society. These values include a belief in the separation of church and state - very few Americans support the idea of a theocracy (rule by religious leaders).
Civil Rights movement vs New Right
They suggest that to achieve success, the beliefs and demands of religiously motivated protest movements and pressure groups need to be consistent with those of wider society. Thus in the American case, they need to connect with mainstream beliefs about democracy, equality and religious freedom, which the civil rights movement did but the New Christian Right has failed to do.
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a movement that emerged within the Catholic Church in Latin America at the end of the 1960s, with a strong commitment to the poor and opposition to the military dictatorships of the time.
Liberation theology was a major change of direction for the Catholic Church in Latin America. For centuries, it had been an extremely conservative institution, encouraging a fatalistic acceptance of poverty and supporting wealthy elites and military dictatorships.
The factors that led to liberation theology were:
- Deepening rural poverty and the growth of urban slums throughout Latin America.
- Human rights abuses following military take-overs, such as torture and death squads murdering political opponents, for example in Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
- The growing commitment among Catholic priests to an ideology that supported the poor and opposed violations of human rights.
Unlike traditional Catholicism, liberation theology set out to change society:
For example, priests helped the poor to establish support groups, called ‘base communities’, and helped workers and peasants to fight oppression under the protection of the church. Priests took the lead in developing literacy programmes, educating the poor about their situation, raising awareness and mobilising support.
During the 1970s, priests were often the only authority figures who took the side of the oppressed when dictatorships used murder squads and torture to hold on to power.
Evaluation of Liberation Thesis
However, during the 1980s the Church’s official attitude changed. Pope John Paul Il condemned liberation theology on the grounds that it resembled Marxism, and instructed priests to concentrate on pastoral activities, not political struggle.
The success of liberation theology has led some neo-Marxists to question the view that religion is always a conservative force.
For example, Otto Maduro (1982) believes that religion can be a revolutionary force that brings about change. In the case of liberation theology, religious ideas radicalised the Catholic clergy in defence of peasants and workers, making them see that serving the poor was part of their Christian duty. Similarly, Löwy (2005) questions Marx’s view that religion always legitimates social inequality.
Both Maduro and Löwy see liberation theology as an example of religiously inspired social change but other Marxists disagree. Much depends on how social change is defined. Liberation theology may have helped to bring about democracy but it did not threaten the stability of capitalism
In recent decades, liberation theology has faced competition from Pentecostal churches, which have made big inroads in Latin America among the poor. David Lehmann (1996)
contrasts the two:
Liberation theology offers an ‘option for the poor’ of community consciousness-raising and campaigning for social change, led by ‘revolutionary priests and nuns in their jeans and sandals’.
Pentecostalism offers an ‘option of the poor’ for individuals to pull themselves out of poverty through their own efforts, supported by the congregation and led by the church pastors, ‘uniformly respectable in their suits, white shirts and black ties’.
Thus, liberation theology offers a radical solution to poverty: collective improvement through political action in the public sphere, while Pentecostalism’s solution is conservative: individual self-improvement through the private sphere of family and church.
Millenarian movements
European colonialism led to economic exploitation and cultural and religious domination, for example through the Christian missionaries and their schools. At the same time, it shattered the traditional tribal social structures and cultures of the colonised peoples. Local leaders and local gods lose power and credibility when their people are forced to work for colonists who live in luxury.
Worley studied the millenarian movements in Melanesia (Western Pacific) known as cargo cults. The islanders felt wrongfully deprived when ‘cargo’ (material goods) arrived in the islands for the colonists. A series of cargo cults sprang up during the 19h and 20th centuries asserting that the cargo was meant for the islanders but had been diverted by the colonists for themselves, and that this unjust social order was about to be overturned. These movements often led to widespread unrest that threatened colonial rule.
Worsley notes that the movements combined elements of traditional beliefs with elements of Christianity - such as ideas about a heaven where the suffering of the righteous will be rewarded, Christ’s imminent second coming to earth, the Day of Judgment and punishment of the wicked.
Gramsci: religion and hegemony
For example, writing in Italy in the 1920s and 1930s, Gramsci notes the immense conservative ideological power of the Catholic Church in helping to win support for Mussolini’s fascist regime.
However, hegemony is never guaranteed. It is always possible for the working class to develop an alternative vision of how society should be organised - that is, a counter-hegemony. Like Engels, Gramsci sees religion as having a dual character and he notes that in some circumstances, it can challenge as well as support the ruling class. He argues that popular forms of religion can help workers see through the ruling-class hegemony by offering a vision of a better, fairer world. Similarly, some clergy may act as organic intellectuals - that is, as educators, organisers and leaders.
They can help workers see the situation they are in and support working-class organisations such as trade unions.
Following Gramsci, Billings argues that the differences in levels of militancy can be understood in terms of hegemony and the role of religion. Billings identifies three ways in which religion either supported or challenged the employers’ hegemony:
- Leadership: The miners benefited from the leadership of organic intellectuals - many of them lay preachers who were themselves miners and trade union activists. These clergy helped to convert miners to the union cause.
Textile workers lacked such leadership. - Organisation: The miners were able to use independent churches to hold meetings and organise, whereas the textile workers lacked such spaces.
- Support: The churches kept miners’ morale high with supportive sermons, prayer meetings and group singing.
By contrast, textile workers who engaged in union activity met with opposition from local church leaders.
Billings concludes that religion can play ‘a prominent oppositional role’. His study shows that the same religion can be called upon either to defend the status quo or justify the struggle to change it.
