Sociology · Sociology Themes and Perspectives (Haralambos and Holborn)
Chapter 7 : Religion
Table of contents114 sections
- 1.Religion
- 2.Introduction - definitions of religion
- 3.Key Terms
- 4.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 5.Religion - a functionalist perspective
- 6.The sacred and the profane
- 7.Totemism
- 8.Religion and the 'collective conscience'
- 9.Evaluation of Durkheim
- 10.Bronislaw Malinowski
- 11.Talcott Parsons
- 12.Criticisms of the functionalist approach
- 13.Key Terms
- 14.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 15.Religion - a Marxist perspective
- 16.Religion as 'the opium of the people'
- 17.Religion and social control
- 18.Evidence to support Marxism
- 19.Evaluation of Marxism
- 20.Engels and neo-Marxists - religion as a radical force
- 21.Key Terms
- 22.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 23.Gender, feminism and religion
- 24.Radical feminist perspectives on religion
- 25.Liberal feminist perspectives on religion
- 26.Patriarchy and women in conservative religions
- 27.Key Terms
- 28.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 29.Rational choice theories of religion
- 30.The origins of rational choice theory
- 31.Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge - religion and compensators
- 32.The application of rational choice theory
- 33.Criticisms and evaluation of rational choice theory
- 34.Key Terms
- 35.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 36.Religion and social change
- 37.Religion as a conservative force
- 38.Changes in society and religion
- 39.Max Weber - The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
- 40.Religion, modernity and rationality
- 41.Weber - an evaluation
- 42.Religion and social change - conclusion
- 43.Key Terms
- 44.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 45.Religious organisations
- 46.The church
- 47.Denominations
- 48.Sects
- 49.Cults
- 50.Key Terms
- 51.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 52.New religious movements, sects and cults
- 53.Roy Wallis - The Elementary Forms of the New Religious Life
- 54.Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge - un-ideal types
- 55.Reasons for the growth of sects, cults and new religious movements
- 56.The development of sects
- 57.Key Terms
- 58.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 59.The New Age
- 60.Examples of the New Age
- 61.The themes of the New Age
- 62.Variations within the New Age
- 63.The appeal of the New Age
- 64.The New Age - conclusion
- 65.Key Terms
- 66.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 67.Social groups and religiosity
- 68.Social class and religiosity
- 69.Gender and religious participation
- 70.Religion, ethnicity and age
- 71.Key Terms
- 72.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 73.Secularisation
- 74.Support for the secularisation thesis
- 75.Institutional religion - participation
- 76.Institutional religion - disengagement, differentiation and societalisation
- 77.Institutional religion - religious pluralism
- 78.Institutional religion - the secularisation of religious institutions in the USA
- 79.Institutional religion - the New Christian Right
- 80.Religion and society - desacrilisation
- 81.Religion in pre-industrial societies
- 82.Secularisation - international comparisons
- 83.Secularisation - conclusion
- 84.Key Terms
- 85.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 86.Fundamentalism and religious divisions in the modern world
- 87.The nature and definition of fundamentalism
- 88.Steve Bruce - fundamentalism and secularisation
- 89.Gabriel Almond, R. Scott Appleby and Emmanuel Sivan - Strong Religion
- 90.Key Terms
- 91.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 92.Religion and conflict in the contemporary world
- 93.Mark Juergensmeyer - religious violence
- 94.Samuel P. Huntington - 'The clash of civilizations'
- 95.Karen Armstrong - 11 September 2001, Islam and the West
- 96.Steve Bruce - conflict, religion and other causes
- 97.Key Terms
- 98.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 99.High modernity, postmodernity and religion
- 100.Anthony Giddens - high modernity and religious revival
- 101.Zygmunt Bauman - religion and postmodernity
- 102.David Lyon - Jesus in Disneyland
- 103.Paul Heelas - postmodernity and the New Age
- 104.Key Terms
- 105.📌 Exam Tidbits
- 106.Religion and science
- 107.Religion and science as belief systems
- 108.Religion and science as compatible
- 109.Religion and science as incompatible
- 110.Phillip Hefner - religion, science and the destabilisation of meaning
- 111.William Sims Bainbridge - reconciling religion and science
- 112.Summary and conclusions
- 113.Key Terms
- 114.📌 Exam Tidbits
Chapter preview
Religion
Introduction - definitions of religion
- Religious beliefs are present in every known society, but their endless variety makes it difficult to produce a definition broad enough to encompass them all without incorporating phenomena not normally thought of as religions.
- Two main approaches have been adopted to tackle this issue: functional definitions and substantive definitions.
| Approach | Definition / Characteristics | Thinker / Example |
|---|---|---|
| Functional definitions | Defines religion in terms of the functions it performs for society or individuals. Tends to be more inclusive. | Yinger: "a system of beliefs and practices by means of which a group of people struggles with the ultimate problems of human life" (quoted in Hamilton, 1995). |
| Substantive definitions | Concerned with the content of religion rather than its function or purpose. Tends to be more exclusive. | Durkheim (1961, first published 1912): defined religion in terms of a distinction between the sacred and the profane. · Roland Robertson (1970): "refers to the existence of supernatural beings that have a governing effect on life". · Melford Spiro (1965): "an institution consisting of culturally patterned interaction with culturally postulated superhuman beings". |
- Hamilton (1995) notes three main problems with functional definitions:
- They allow the inclusion of a wide variety of belief systems in the category 'religion' (e.g., communism, which explicitly rejects religious beliefs).
- They are based upon assumptions about the roles and purposes of religion, which might vary between societies and should be uncovered by empirical investigation, not assumed from the outset.
- Phrases such as 'the ultimate problems of human life' are open to varied interpretations. For some, ultimate problems might be "simply how to enjoy it as much as possible, how to avoid pain and ensure pleasure", issues addressed by medicine and leisure.
- Substantive definitions also run into problems because certain belief systems commonly regarded as religions, such as Buddhism, do not contain a belief in supernatural beings (Hamilton, 1995).
- Alan Aldridge (2007) distinguishes between definitions:
| Exclusive definitions | Inclusive definitions |
|---|---|
| Substantive definitions; criteria are more restrictive | Functional definitions; relatively easy to qualify as a religion |
- Definitions tend to reflect the theoretical…
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