towards a new political economy of religion

Question 1

Economic considerations have

Answer 1

grown in importance in the post-Cold War era.

Question 2

iscal problems in minor economies can shake the foundations of

Answer 2

major international state systems.

Question 3

There’s been a growing economization (marketization and commodification) of

Answer 3

religion

Question 4

which theory supports the economization observation of religion

Answer 4

rational choice theory

Question 5

creasing globalization of religious conflict relates to the new

Answer 5

global political economy

Question 6

thesis

Answer 6

Taking into account macro-level changes in political economy is key to understanding current debates in the sociology of religion.

Question 7

Marion Maddox and Nicolas de Bremond d’Ars are engaged in

Answer 7

unveiling the relationship between religion and economy.

Question 8

what does Maddox draw from weber

Answer 8

capitalist ethic

Question 9

what does bremonnd d’ars draw from weber

Answer 9

relationship between religious ethics and economy.

Question 10

Maddox and de Bremond d’Ars on Religion and Economy align with what paradign

Answer 10

secularization

Question 11

Maddox studied

Answer 11

Australian megachurches, redefined as ‘growth churches’.

Question 12

maddox uses Ninian Smart’s seven dimensions of religion:

Answer 12

ritual, doctrine, myths, emotions, ethics, social life, and the material.

Question 13

Maddox claims growth churches are ____ ____ which

Answer 13

‘capitalism’s cathedrals’, which ‘reproduce, naturalize, enlarge, enchant and, to some degree, civilize it.’

Question 14

Maddox sees growth churches as similar to

Answer 14

global franchising businesses.

Question 15

De Bremond d’Ars studied the

Answer 15

French ecumenical, mostly Catholic, movement Les Entrepreneurs et Dirigeants Chrétiens (Christian Entrepreneurs and Managers).

Question 16

E. Nicolas de Bremond d’Ars analyzes how managers and lay Catholics in the movement aim to… what is the dillemia

Answer 16

overcome the ethical dilemmas of being religious businessmen.
Their dilemma is the contradiction between the Catholic value system and the managers’ role being bound to practical reasoning and instrumental rationality

Question 17

The dual distribution of salvation goods between laymen (piety, charity) and priests (sacraments) creates

Answer 17

tensions in the lay fraternity. ○ The movement is structured around practical reasoning and business logic.

Question 18

E. Nicolas de Bremond d’Ars use of Georg simmel

Answer 18

○ He explains its development using Georg Simmel’s concept of ‘religious sentiment’, which resides among non-religious businessmen in a fluid or diffuse kind of piety.
– This makes use of existing social forms of religion (fraternity), leading to an organizational amalgamation of Catholicism and capitalism

Question 19

The September 2011 issue of Social Compass (58(3)) distinguishes four categories of scholarship on religion and economy:

Answer 19

1. The damaging features of consumer culture on religion
2. Consequences of Consumer Capitalism on the Religious Landscape
3. growth religions
4. religion welfare and neoliberal policy-making

Question 20

○ 1. Damaging Features of Consumer Culture on Religion:

Answer 20

§ Consumerism is seen as shallow and hedonistic.
§ People lose their sense of tradition.
§ This approach has an inbuilt nostalgia.

Question 21

Consequences of Consumer Capitalism on the Religious Landscape:

Answer 21

§ There is organizational decline of mainstream churches.
§ New religious and spiritual marketplaces flourish.
§ This resonates with contemporary theorizing on religious diversity.
Incorporates secularization and rational choice theory of religion.

Question 22

Growth Religions:

Answer 22

§ Focuses on Pentecostalism and other thriving movements, including Hindu and Muslim movements.
§ These are seen as the winners of social transformations rooted in urbanization, globalization, and the loosening grip of Tradition.
§ Their theologies are often conservative and may contain elements of prosperity theology.

Question 23

○ 4. Religion, Welfare and Neoliberal Policy-Making:

Answer 23

§ Faith-based movements and traditional Churches have gained strength in welfare provision.
§ Religions are seen as providers of social capital.
§ Linked to changes in welfare state policies from neoliberal economic and administrative trends.
§ This structuralist and institutionalist view focuses on political economy as the driver of social change.

Question 24

Maddox’s Presentation: Fits the third category of focusing on growth religions

Answer 24

The explicit link between growth churches and consumer capitalism is emphasized.

Question 25

de Bremond d’Ars’s Presentation: Fits the second category

Answer 25

looking at the consequences of capitalism among religious organizations. Even though the discussion is not explicitly tied to the rise of consumerism and neoliberal rationality, the subtext is present.

Question 26

Political Economy Defined:

Answer 26

refers to the political organization of the economy through law, custom, and government.

Question 27

the weight of political actors has

Answer 27

declined in relation to that of economic actors.

Question 28

Nation-states increasingly have to rely on the

Answer 28

goodwill of corporations for their own success.

Question 29

Economic ideologies have become naturalized to the extent that they are

Answer 29

considered the normal way of action and thought in many areas of life.

Question 30

From the viewpoint of the citizen, this development relates to the

Answer 30

increasing role of consumerism as a desired way of life

Question 31

Economic Reasoning:

Answer 31

A growing role of economic reasoning among religions in the new political economy should be evident, including changes in argumentation and the use of business-oriented practices.

Question 32

Growth Churches and Capitalism

Answer 32

Marion Maddox provides a case in point, stating that growth churches are so fused with capitalism that capitalism’s key notion of constant growth becomes their central theological principle.

Question 33

Customer Orientation:

Answer 33

Schlamelcher has identified a growing customer orientation and increasing economic discourses among majority churches in Germany, which also relate to the growing impact of neoliberalism.

Question 34

. New Spiritualities:

Answer 34

Much of the scholarship on new spiritualities and global Pentecostalism can be seen to support the growing role of economic thinking, not least with regard to prosperity theology, which has risen simultaneously with the advancement of neo-Pentecostalism around the world.