Religion in a Global Context Flashcards
How has globalisation led to fundamentalism?
AO1/2
- Meyer: globalisation has led to religious diversity - cultures are merging and states are no longer defined by a religion. This is deterritorialisation - social, political, and cultural practices like religion are blurring from their original places and populations
- Singleton: Islam is becoming a transnational religion - muslims now commit more to the ummah as the muslim identity has transcended national borders e.g. when a Danish magazine drew cartoons of prophet Muhammad there was global outrage from the muslim community and it resulted in an extremist attack killing the artist
What are the characteristics of fundamentalism?
AO1
- Authoritative Sacred Text believed to be inerrent and unquestionably true
- Us and Them Mentality - divide between believers and non-believers as they see themselves as separate from the world
- Aggressive reaction: shocking and harmful actions in response to hwat they see as threats to their beliefs - often led by a religious leader
- Use of modern technology to highlight their POV e.g. twitter being used to create bedroom radicals, televangelism, planes and bombs for terrorist attacks
- Patriarchy: Harley - fundamentalists favour a world where women’s reproductive powers, social and economic roles are controlled by men
- Prophecy: proclaim relevance of a sacred text to the near future or recent events e.g. rapture, blaming hurricanes on gay marriage legalisation
- Conspiracy Theories: belief that powerful hiddem and evil forces are controlling the world e.g. jews are controlling the world
What are some examples of fundamentalist groups?
AO2
- Boko Haram: militant Islamist extremist group responsible for the deaths of thousands of Nigerians in its campaign for an Islamic state since 2002. Infamous for their kidnapping of 276 girls from a boarding school in Chibok
- New Christian Right: advocate to ‘Take America back to God’ through only teaching creationism and implementing right wing politics e.g. abortion reform
- ISIS: Sunni extremist group which aims to create a global Islamic State through a violent campaign forcibly imposing religion
Who speaks about the relationship between modernity and fundamentalism?
AO1/2
- Davie: fundamentalism is a product of modernity as traditional beliefs feel threatened by modernity
- Giddens: fundamentalism is a product of globalisation which undermines traditional beliefs e.g. heteronormativity, abortion
- Beck: globalisation means modern society has more risk and so people turn to traditional structures as a safety net. Also globalisation has brought cosmopolitism as we are encouraged to embrace the views of others and think more rationally rather than relying on a sacred text. This means there is now greater threat to traditional values which elicits a greater response - fundamentalism
- Bauman: fundamentalism is in response to postmodernity as there is more choice and freedom - some people embrace it while others turn away from this choice to the ‘truth’ of fundamentalism
- Castells: there are 2 responses to modernity. 1. resistance identity - defensive reaction from those who feel threatened and retreat to fundamentalism. 2. project identity - more forward-looking response that embraces social change e.g. feminism, environmentalism
How can we evaluate views of modernity and fundamentalism?
AO3
Beckford:
- Ignores other impacts of globalisation - has brought secularisation not just fundamentalism
- Giddens lumps all types of fundamentalism together without exploring their differences e.g. sunni VS shia fundamentalists
- Exaggerate difference between fundamentalism and cosmopolitanism - not so jarringly different that friction has to occur
Haynes: fundamentalism may not always be a response to globalisation - could be local elites failing to improve living standards like in the middle east
How does Bruce explain fundamentalism?
AO1/2
- Fundamentalism is confined to monotheistic religions as they believe in a sacred text an a one true God which leans itself more towards fundamentalism
- In the west fundamentalism is a response to change within society - the growth of liberal and secular atttitudes which go against traditional values
- In the developing world fundamentalism is a response to change thrust upon them by foreign, typically western, powers e.g. 1979 Iranian Revolution
What type of fundamentalism does Davie identify?
AO1/2
Secular Fundamentalism:
- Enlightenment led to rationalisation and globalisation which led to a religious fundamentalist response
- From the 1970s onwards people have lost faith in post-enlightenment ideologies such as science, liberalism, marxism, government. These ideologies are now struggling to survive which has led to a secular fundamentalist response - typically nationalist
- Can link to Beck: risk society
- e.g. fall of Yugoslavia after the breakdown of communism and dissolution of the USSR led to an ethnic cleaning by a secular fundamentalist group with an us vs them mentality
What is a current example of secular fundamentalism and which scholars talk about it?
AO2
- French government banning religious symbols in public, halal meat in schools, veils worn in public
- Ansell: french fundamentalism is just cultural racism disguised as universalism
- Hervieu-Leger: secular fundamentalism is more likely in countries experiencing cultural amnesia
What is Huntington’s explanation for fundamentalism?
AO1/2
- There are 7 civilisations: western, islamic, latin-american, confucian, japanese, hindu, and slavic-orthodox
- Religious differences are a major source of conflict as each civilisation is tied to a major world religion
- When civilisations clash there is conflict - globalisation has increased this issue as civilisations are now more interconnected
- The problem is not islamic fundamentalism but islam itself - 9/11 and 7/7 attacks both demonstrate the problem of Islam
- The west needs to reassert itself as a liberal Christian civilisation
How does Kurtz add to Huntington?
AO2
There is culture war between relgious groups and their respective civilisations
How can we evaluate Huntington?
AO3
- Cassanova: ignores religious dvisions within a civilisation e.g. catholics vs protestants in Ireland
- Horrie and Chippindale: the majority of the 1.5 billion muslims in the world have no interest in a holy war or conflict - Huttington makes an accusation at all muslims when in reality on an extremist minority are the problem
- Armstrong: hostility towards the west from other civilisations is self-inflicted as the west often try to impose foreign policy on other countries
- Norris and Ingleheart: analyse a world values survey and found thay western and islamic societies share a lot of values e.g. democracy - Huntington exaggerates the ‘clash’
