Religious beliefs and social change and stability Flashcards
Who theorised the concept of the ‘sacred and profane’?
Emile Durkheim (1912)
Who identified that religion was used to comfort anxiety and tension from life crises such as birth, puberty, marriage and death?
Malinowski (1954)
Who believed that religion provided a ‘value consensus’ within society?
Talcott Parsons
Who believed that religion was an ‘opium of the masses’?
Karl Marx (1842): false-class consciousness
Who believed that religion was a form of alienation?
Karl Marx
Who identified religion as a form of social control?
Karl Marx
Criticisms of Marxism and religion
- Functionalist criticism (positive views)
- Secularisation
- Religion under communism
- Feminist criticism
- Religion as a radical force
Who identified religion as a ‘radical force’? And why?
Friedrich Engels - he believed that religion usually started off amongst oppressed groups in society as a way of coping with their oppression
Who theorised around the ‘liberation theory’?
Maduro: the relative autonomy of religion
Who argued that religion has not always been patriarchal (Greek Goddesses)?
Karen Armstrong (1993)
Who argues that religion operates differently with public and private sphere?
Jean Holm (1994)
Who believed that religion is an instrument of male domination?
Simone de Beauvior (1949)
Who argues that women are seriously oppressed in Islamic states, through burkas?
El Saadawi (1980)
Who believes that religions can be misinterpreted as being patriarchal?
Helen Watson (1994)
Who argued that Pentecostalism in Latin America as being feminists in nature?
Linda Woodhead (2002
What is a ‘conservative force’?
when something prevents social change
How do functionalists believe that religion is a ‘conservative force’
they argue that religion benefits society by promoting stability and integration
How do marxists believe that religion is a ‘conservative force’?
they argue it benefits the ruling class by helping to promote false-class consciousness and thereby retaining ruling-class power.
How do feminists believe that religion is a ‘conservative force’?
they argue that it helps to retain patriarchal power
Who argues that religion is a radical force?
Otto Maduro and Max Weber
Why does Maduro argue that religion is a radical force?
Liberation Theory - who points how Roman Catholic liberation theology in Latin America shows that religion can sometimes become a force for radical change
Why does Weber argue that religion is a radical force?
Argued that religion could be used to support any set of beliefs, including those which lead to changes in society
What is Weber’s theory on Calvinism?
Weber argued that the development of capitalism in Western societies resulted from the right economic conditions plus the existence of a particular set of religious beliefs
What is ‘the elect’?
Calvin thought there was a distinct group of the elect who were chosen by God, before they were even born, to go to heaven, however well they behaved.
What is the ‘Protestant ethic of an ascetic lifestyle’?
which followers chose to forgo life’s pleasure such as drinking or dancing. It also encouraged devotion to work, which was seen as God’s calling, and the simple lifestyle in which money was not wasted on luxuries.
What is the ‘spirit of capitalism’?
involves a determination to make money, but not to spend it. Instead, money is reinvested in businesses so that they can become ever more profitable.
