religion and social change Flashcards
what is social change?
changes in human interactions and relationships that transform cultural and social institutions
what does religion as a conservative force mean?
this means two things:
- maintains existing social order in society.
religion operates to inhibit changes to occur and maintains the existing social order of society – ‘conserves’ how things are.
- to conserve traditional customs.
religion keeps traditional customs, beliefs and morals (which can mean reverting to values from the past).
example 1 - iranian revolution
islamic fundamentalists led a revolution against the king (the shah) and ruling class as they saw them as too ‘westernized’
strikes/protests meant the king left the country and iran returned to the principles of islamic faith.
example 2 - civil rights movement
in the USA in the 1960s, the reverend martin luther king and the southern christian leadership council played a leading role in establishing civil rights and securing legislation intended to reduce racial discrimination
what does weber believe?
the religious beliefs of calvinism helped to bring about major social change, specifically the emergence of modern capitalism in northern europe in the 16th/17th centuries
calvinism produces the values which provided the spirit of capitalism that encouraged capitalist development
what do calvinists believe in regards to predestination?
followers believed their fate was already decided by god. believer had no way of knowing whether he or she was ‘saved’
solution of this problem of not knowing one’s destiny was to become in ‘intense worldly activity’ since hard work and material success were seen as religious virtues and a likely sign of being one of gods chosen
what did this lead to?
protestant ethic emphasized values and virtues like hard work, trade, profit etc. living life according to these values with hard work leading to material success became signs of gods grace and an indication that the individual was ‘chosen’
protestant ethic valued the pursuit of wealth and making money, which has something people had always done. but the protestant ethic also promoted as virtues the reinvestment of profits back into business
what conclusion did weber come to?
weber came to the conclusion that calvinism provided rationality and religious ideology and ethics which encouraged the development of capitalist industrialization first in the protestant countries of europe
how else does religion act as an agent of social change?
by seeking to change society back by reversing what many might regard as progressive change e.g. in afghanistan during the 1990s the taliban regime set about reversing the modernization of afghan society by establishing an extreme islamic fundamentalism regime
what do mcguire and robinson suggest?
there are four major interrelated factors which influence whether religion acts as a conservative force or a force for social change
1. nature and extent of religious beliefs
2. significance of religion in a society’s culture
3. extent of social involvement of religion
4. the degrees of central authority in religious organizations
