RELIGION+ETHNICITY Flashcards
REASONS FOR ETHNIC MINORITY RELIGIOSITY
CULTURAL DEFENCE: Bruce – Religion can offer support and a sense of cultural identity in uncertain or hostile environments.
Bird – Religion can be a basis for community solidarity, a means of preserving ones culture, language
and a way of coping with a oppression in a racist society.
Cultural Transition
Herberg – Religion can be a means of easing the transition into a new culture by providing support
and a sense of community in the new environment.
Pryce – Pentecostalism is a highly adaptive religion which provided migrants with values that were
appropriate to their new world in a format that they could understand.
Social Deprivation and Marginality
A sense of dissatisfaction with a lack of status in society may account for higher religiosity amongst
ethnic minorities as many ethnic minority groups are amongst the poorest in the UK. Some older Asian
women may turn to religion as a source of support as they are marginalised from the mainstream due
to a poor grasp of English. Religion may also provide a source of identity and status that is lacking
from the mainstream.
Social Identity
Religion can help to provide many markers of identity for ethnic minorities such as dress, food and
customs as well as ritual and festivals they celebrate. This can help members to resist the denial of
their status and the devaluing of their culture through Racism.
Jacobson – British Born Pakistanis in the East End of London identified as Muslim rather than Asian or
Pakistani first as this provided them with stability, security and certainty when they face a lot of
uncertainty in other aspects of their lives.
