Alternative Sociologies of Religion

Alternative Sociologies of Religion PDF Author: James V Spickard
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479878200
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
Uncovers what the sociology of religion would look like had it emerged in a Confucian, Muslim, or Native American culture rather than in a Christian one Sociology has long used Western Christianity as a model for all religious life. As a result, the field has tended to highlight aspects of religion that Christians find important, such as religious beliefs and formal organizations, while paying less attention to other elements. Rather than simply criticizing such limitations, James V. Spickard imagines what the sociology of religion would look like had it arisen in three non-Western societies. What aspects of religion would scholars see more clearly if they had been raised in Confucian China? What could they learn about religion from Ibn Khaldun, the famed 14th century Arab scholar? What would they better understand, had they been born Navajo, whose traditional religion certainly does not revolve around beliefs and organizations? Through these thought experiments, Spickard shows how non-Western ideas understand some aspects of religions—even of Western religions—better than does standard sociology. The volume shows how non-Western frameworks can shed new light on several different dimensions of religious life, including the question of who maintains religious communities, the relationships between religion and ethnicity as sources of social ties, and the role of embodied experience in religious rituals. These approaches reveal central aspects of contemporary religions that the dominant way of doing sociology fails to notice. Each approach also provides investigators with new theoretical resources to guide them deeper into their subjects. The volume makes a compelling case for adopting a global perspective in the social sciences.

Alternative Sociologies of Religion

Alternative Sociologies of Religion PDF Author: James V Spickard
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479878200
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 372

Get Book Here

Book Description
Uncovers what the sociology of religion would look like had it emerged in a Confucian, Muslim, or Native American culture rather than in a Christian one Sociology has long used Western Christianity as a model for all religious life. As a result, the field has tended to highlight aspects of religion that Christians find important, such as religious beliefs and formal organizations, while paying less attention to other elements. Rather than simply criticizing such limitations, James V. Spickard imagines what the sociology of religion would look like had it arisen in three non-Western societies. What aspects of religion would scholars see more clearly if they had been raised in Confucian China? What could they learn about religion from Ibn Khaldun, the famed 14th century Arab scholar? What would they better understand, had they been born Navajo, whose traditional religion certainly does not revolve around beliefs and organizations? Through these thought experiments, Spickard shows how non-Western ideas understand some aspects of religions—even of Western religions—better than does standard sociology. The volume shows how non-Western frameworks can shed new light on several different dimensions of religious life, including the question of who maintains religious communities, the relationships between religion and ethnicity as sources of social ties, and the role of embodied experience in religious rituals. These approaches reveal central aspects of contemporary religions that the dominant way of doing sociology fails to notice. Each approach also provides investigators with new theoretical resources to guide them deeper into their subjects. The volume makes a compelling case for adopting a global perspective in the social sciences.

Sociology of Religion

Sociology of Religion PDF Author: Susanne C. Monahan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 476

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Book Description
This collection of articles explores the relationship between the structure and culture of religion and various aspects of social life in the United States. Based on both classic and contemporary research in the sociology of religion, it highlights a variety of research methods and theoretical approaches in exploring the ways in which religious values, beliefs and practices shape the world "outside" of church, synagogue, or mosque walls while simultaneously being shaped "by" the non-religious forces operating in that world. Many readings from drawn popular sources--e.g., newspapers and magazines--and although many of the readings are about religion in the Christian tradition, there are also readings about religion outside the American context (e.g., Poland, England, El Salvador, Nicaragua), and beyond the Christian tradition (e.g., Judaism, alternative religions, Hindu traditions). Classic Sociological Definitions Of Religion; Belief And Ritual; Religious Experience; Race, Ethnicity And Religion; Gender And Religion; Social Class And Religion; Sexual Identity And Religion; The Secularization Debate; Religious Organizations, Institutions And Authority; Alternative Religions; Media And Religion; Politics And Religion; Science And Religion; Social Movements And Religion. For anyone interested in the sociology of religion or religious perspectives on social issues.

Alternative Religions

Alternative Religions PDF Author: Stephen Hunt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781138720541
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This title was first published in 2003. Alternative religions attract great public, academic and government interest in our apparently post-Christian society. Yet how did all the "alternatives" develop, what are their beliefs and practices and how significant are their impact in terms of the world's religions and society? This book presents a comprehensive introduction to the major forms of alternative religions: cults, sects, new religious movements, the New Age, fundamentalism, Pentecostalism, ethnic religions and quasi religions. Stephen Hunt presents sociological insights into the rise of alternative religions, their beliefs and practices, their impact, who joins them and why, and how they are being classified and could be re-classified in the future. Public and legal controversies surrounding some alternative religions, such as the so-called "dangerous cults," are also explored. Offering a broad introduction to alternative religions, this book offers students added insights into contemporary themes such as secularization, post-modernity, links between religion, healing and human potential, and changes in our global culture.

Alternative Religions Among European Youth

Alternative Religions Among European Youth PDF Author: Luigi Tomasi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429864027
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 183

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Book Description
Frist published in 1999, this book provides an overview of various non-conventional notions of what is sacred, currently held among European young people. It analyses the growing estrangement between traditional religious doctrines and current beliefs among young people in the following countries: France, Austria, Holland, England, Germany, Poland, Russia and Iceland. Using fist-hand statistical support and a well-established theoretical approach, the book examines new religious movements and sects, analysing and interpreting the reasons for their growth and spread among young people. The distinctive features of the book are its investigation of diverse religious phenomena and its verification of whether this spread of ‘alternative ‘religiosity is due to the reluctance of a growing section of the European population to accept traditional religious beliefs. The result of eight separate empirical surveys, the book is original in its content and innovative in its theoretical approach. Overall, it provides a detailed and documented analysis of the increasing number of young Europeans now attracted by ‘alternative’ religions.

Alternative Religions

Alternative Religions PDF Author: Stephen Hunt
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781315193793
Category : Electronic books
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
"This title was first published in 2003. Alternative religions attract great public, academic and government interest in our apparently post-Christian society. Yet how did all the "alternatives" develop, what are their beliefs and practices and how significant are their impact in terms of the world's religions and society? This book presents a comprehensive introduction to the major forms of alternative religions: cults, sects, new religious movements, the New Age, fundamentalism, Pentecostalism, ethnic religions and quasi religions. Stephen Hunt presents sociological insights into the rise of alternative religions, their beliefs and practices, their impact, who joins them and why, and how they are being classified and could be re-classified in the future. Public and legal controversies surrounding some alternative religions, such as the so-called "dangerous cults", are also explored. Offering a broad introduction to alternative religions, this book offers students added insights into contemporary themes such as secularization, post-modernity, links between religion, healing and human potential, and changes in our global culture."--Provided by publisher.

Alternative Religions

Alternative Religions PDF Author: Stephen J. Hunt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 9781138708556
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Title first published in 2003. Alternative religions attract great public, academic and government interest in our apparently post-Christian society. Yet how did all the 'alternatives' develop, what are their beliefs and practices and how significant is their impact in terms of the world's religions and society? This book presents a comprehensive introduction to the major forms of alternative religions: Cults, Sects, New Religious Movements, the New Age, Fundamentalism, Pentecostalism, Ethnic Religions and Quasi-religions. Stephen Hunt presents sociological insights into the rise of alternative religions, their beliefs and practices, their impact, who joins them, and how they are being classified and could be re-classified in the future. Public and legal controversies surrounding some alternative religions, such as the so-called 'dangerous cults', are also explored. This book offers students insights into contemporary themes such as secularisation, post-modernity, links between religion, healing and and changes in our global culture.

A Sociology of Spirituality

A Sociology of Spirituality PDF Author: Peter C. Jupp
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317186648
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 286

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Book Description
The emergence of spirituality in contemporary culture in holistic forms suggests that organised religions have failed. This thesis is explored and disputed in this book in ways that mark important critical divisions. This is the first collection of essays to assess the significance of spirituality in the sociology of religion. The authors explore the relationship of spirituality to the visual, individualism, gender, identity politics, education and cultural capital. The relationship between secularisation and spirituality is examined and consideration is given to the significance of Simmel in relation to a sociology of spirituality. Problems of defining spirituality are debated with reference to its expression in the UK, the USA, France and Holland. This timely, original and well structured volume provides undergraduates, postgraduates and researchers with a scholarly appraisal of a phenomenon that can only increase in sociological significance.

Predicting Religion

Predicting Religion PDF Author: Grace Davie
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351909223
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
Religion in the contemporary west is undergoing rapid change. In Predicting Religion twenty experts in the study of religion present their predictions about the future of religion in the 21st century - predictions based on careful analysis of the contemporary religious scene from traditional forms of Christianity to new spiritualities. The range of predictions is broad. A number predict further secularization - with religion in the west seen as being in a state of terminal decline. Others question this approach and suggest that we are witnessing not decline but transformation understood in different ways: a shift from theism to pantheism, from outer to inner authority, from God to self-as-god, and above all from religion to spirituality. This accessible book on the contemporary religious scene offers students and scholars of the sociology of religion and theology, as well as interested general readers, fresh insights into the future of religion and spirituality in the west. Published in association with the British Sociological Association Study of Religion group, in the Ashgate Religion and Theology in Interdisciplinary Perspective series.

A Conceptual Alternative for the Sociology of Religion

A Conceptual Alternative for the Sociology of Religion PDF Author: Charles W. Estus
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Religion and sociology
Languages : en
Pages : 45

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Book Description


(Un)Believing in Modern Society

(Un)Believing in Modern Society PDF Author: Dr Jörg Stolz
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1472461304
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
This landmark study in the sociology of religion sheds new light on the question of what has happened to religion and spirituality since the 1960s in modern societies. Exposing several analytical weaknesses of today’s sociology of religion, (Un)Believing in Modern Society presents a new theory of religious-secular competition and a new typology of ways of being religious/secular. The authors draw on a specific European society (Switzerland) as their test case, using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies to show how the theory can be applied. Identifying four ways of being religious/secular in a modern society: 'institutional', 'alternative', 'distanced' and 'secular' they show how and why these forms have emerged as a result of religious-secular competition and describe in what ways all four forms are adapted to the current, individualized society.