Download or read book The Decline of the Sacred in Industrial Society written by Sabino S. Acquaviva and published by . This book was released on 1979 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age written by Michael Warner and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2010-03-15 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “What does it mean to say that we live in a secular age?” This apparently simple question opens into the massive, provocative, and complex A Secular Age, where Charles Taylor positions secularism as a defining feature of the modern world, not the mere absence of religion, and casts light on the experience of transcendence that scientistic explanations of the world tend to neglect. In Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age, a prominent and varied group of scholars chart the conversations in which A Secular Age intervenes and address wider questions of secularism and secularity. The distinguished contributors include Robert Bellah, José Casanova, Nilüfer Göle, William E. Connolly, Wendy Brown, Simon During, Colin Jager, Jon Butler, Jonathan Sheehan, Akeel Bilgrami, John Milbank, and Saba Mahmood. Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age succeeds in conveying to readers the complexity of secularism while serving as an invaluable guide to a landmark book.

Download or read book Religion and Advanced Industrial Society written by James A. Beckford and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, first published in 1989, demonstrates that sociologists have much to gain from a strengthening of the connections between general theories about the changing character of modern western societies and specific studies of religion. It combines an exegesis of sociological classics in the study of religion, and a history of their influence upon the subject’s development; a criticism of Talcott Parson’s attempt to synthesise classical viewpoints into a single theory of modernity; a discussion of post-Parsonian theories of religion’s declining importance; and an argument that some quasi-Marxist thinkers may offer fresh insights into the place of religion in capitalist societies.

Download or read book Sacred and Secular written by Pippa Norris and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2011-10-17 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book develops a theory of existential security. It demonstrates that the publics of virtually all advanced industrial societies have been moving toward more secular orientations during the past half century, but also that the world as a whole now has more people with traditional religious views than ever before. This second edition expands the theory and provides new and updated evidence from a broad perspective and in a wide range of countries. This confirms that religiosity persists most strongly among vulnerable populations, especially in poorer nations and in failed states. Conversely, a systematic erosion of religious practices, values and beliefs has occurred among the more prosperous strata in rich nations.

Download or read book The Invisible Religion written by Thomas Luckmann and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-27 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Invisible Religion is a modern classic of social science. Its influence goes well beyond sociology as it continues to inspire research in such diverse fields as sociology of knowledge, ethnology, theology, sociology of religion, and religious studies. In this volume, the author endeavours to answer one of the most important questions regarding religion in modern times: Are Western societies indeed becoming more secular as they modernize? His surprising answer is still part of the ongoing debates about secularization as he argues that rather than a decline of religion, we are witnessing a shift from an older Church-centered form, to another invisible and still largely unexplored form of religion. Explaining why focusing only on Church when discussing religion is inadequate, this book presents a thorough case for reframing the question of the status of religion in modern life in a way that makes visible forms of religion hitherto unseen, and sketches some aspects of this new form. As such, it will appeal to sociologists with interests in social theory, religion, and the secularization thesis.

Download or read book Sacred Demise written by Carolyn Baker, Ph.D. and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2009-02-23 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The collapse of industrial civilization is rapidly unfolding and offers us an opportunity far beyond mere survival, even as it renders absurd any attempts to “fix” or prevent the end of the world as we have known it. Sacred Demise is about the transformation of human consciousness and the emergence of a new paradigm as a result discovering our purpose in the collapse process, thereby coming home to our ultimate place in the universe. Our willingness to consciously embark on the journey with openness and uncertainty may be advantageous for engendering a quantum evolutionary leap for our species and for the earth community. "We face an awesome internal transition that will take us into very unfamiliar territory and will call upon our deeper resources. Carolyn Baker's Sacred Demise is a courageous, wise, and compassionate guide for us all through this inner journey." Michael Brownlee, Co-founder, Transition Boulder County "Carolyn speaks with a confidence that never flinches from entering into the hardest truths of our times, or from the most difficult truths about the culture we are immersed in, so that we might emerge from the chrysalis of global crisis with open hearts and a renewed way of living on Earth together."--Juan Santos, Fourth World Blogspot

Download or read book The Decline of Christendom in Western Europe 1750 2000 written by Hugh McLeod and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2003-07-17 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christendom lasted for over a thousand years in Western Europe, and we are still living in its shadow. For over two centuries this social and religious order has been in decline. Enforced religious unity has given way to increasing pluralism, and since 1960 this process has spectacularly accelerated. In this 2003 book, historians, sociologists and theologians from six countries answer two central questions: what is the religious condition of Western Europe at the start of the twenty-first century, and how and why did Christendom decline? Beginning by overviewing the more recent situation, the authors then go back into the past, tracing the course of events in England, Ireland, France, Germany and the Netherlands, and showing how the fate of Christendom is reflected in changing attitudes to death and to technology, and in the evolution of religious language. They reveal a pattern more complex and ambiguous than many of the conventional narratives will admit.

Download or read book The Numinous and Modernity written by Todd A. Gooch and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2012-08-09 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author traces the development of Rudolf Otto’s attempt to construct a normative science of religion. This should respond to concerns facing Protestant theologians in Germany at the turn of the century. Moreover, he examines the reception of Otto’s ideas after World War One. The volume contains name and subject indexes.

Download or read book Theology in a Social Context written by Professor Robin Gill and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-06-28 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last 30 years a number of theologians have been using aspects of sociology alongside the more traditional resources of philosophy. In turn, sociologists with an interest in theology have also contributed to an interaction between theology and sociology. The time is right to revisit the dialogue between theologians and sociologists. In his new trilogy on Sociological Theology, Robin Gill makes a renewed contribution to the mapping of three abiding ways of relating theology and sociology, with the three volumes covering: Theology in a Social Context; Theology Shaped by Society; Society Shaped by Theology. Theology in a Social Context argues that a sociological perspective, properly understood, can make an important contribution to theology. Part I looks carefully at various objections raised by both theologians and sociologists, maintaining instead that a proper understanding of social context is a prerequisite for effective theology. Part II suggests that a sociological perspective offers crucial insights into resurgent forms of fundamentalism. Part III offers a fresh account of social context in the modern world, once thought by sociologists and theologians alike to consist simply of increasing secularization.

Download or read book Society without God Second Edition written by Phil Zuckerman and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2020-07-21 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An updated edition showcasing the social health of the least religious nations in the world Religious conservatives around the world often claim that a society without a strong foundation of faith would necessarily be an immoral one, bereft of ethics, values, and meaning. Indeed, the Christian Right in the United States has argued that a society without God would be hell on earth. In Society without God, Second Edition sociologist Phil Zuckerman challenges these claims. Drawing on fieldwork and interviews with more than 150 citizens of Denmark and Sweden, among the least religious countries in the world, he shows that, far from being inhumane, crime-infested, and dysfunctional, highly secular societies are healthier, safer, greener, less violent, and more democratic and egalitarian than highly religious ones. Society without God provides a rich portrait of life in a secular society, exploring how a culture without faith copes with death, grapples with the meaning of life, and remains content through everyday ups and downs. This updated edition incorporates new data from recent studies, updated statistics, and a revised Introduction, as well as framing around the now more highly developed field of secular studies. It addresses the dramatic surge of irreligion in the United States and the rise of the “nones,” and adds data on societal health in specific US states, along with fascinating context regarding which are the most religious and which the most secular.

Download or read book The Secularization Debate written by William H. Swatos and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduced to social scientific audiences by Max Weber, the concept of secularization has had a major influence on the way in which religion has been understood in the West. But at least since the late 1980s both the predictive and the descriptive adequacy of this concept have been seriously challenged. In the face of this challenge, The Secularization Debate offers a timely summary of the critical issues that have arisen over the past decade. With its wide range of essays by prominent international scholars, The Secularization Debate is sure to become a pivotal volume for anyone interested in the hotly contested concept of secularization and its continued relevance to the study of religion.

Download or read book SOCRATES written by Ioanna C. Bitchava and published by Diva Enterprises Private Limited, New Delhi on behalf of Saurabh Chandra, Socrates: Scholarly Research Journal. This book was released on 2017-08-25 with total page 157 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This issue of Socrates has been divided into five sections. The first section is Language & Literature- English. The paper authored by Mehnaz Khan and Hasnain Mashood Ali applies Goffman’s model as a comprehensive approach to analyze the data to understand the role of health in identity formation. The findings examined within the context of ideological and cultural background and interpreted in the light of Althusser’s (1971) ideological framework. The paper concludes by stating that identity is the product of social relationships implicitly formed in the ideological background and is a source of motivation and expectations to transform one into social being capable of expressive control. The paper authored by Amaladhas Dr J. analyses the consciousness that grew out of the unrelieved suffering and psychological traumas of a group of people who were subjected to overt and covert racism in the USA for about four centuries. The second section of this issue is Psychology. The Paper authored by Ioanna C. Bitchava, Paleologou Angie-M. P, Chrousos George P., Artemiadis Artemios K. and Darviri Christina is an innovative quasi-experimental study, whose core aim was not only to investigate the role of Stress and Stress-Management on the Physical, Mental, and Cognitive Health of first-year University Students during the transition period into the tertiary education system (especially in the contemporary Greek Society), but also to apply an innovative Stress Management Technique [based on the Ancient Greek Philosophy - with contemporary successful effects], Pythagorean Self-Awareness –comparatively to the worldwide "classic" Stress-Management Techniques – for the first time worldwide into this target-group, as well. This paper is an issue of great importance. The third section of this issue is Sociology. The paper authored by Neha Singh and Dr Neeraj Mishra explores the nuances that industrialization is mired with, in relation to the rivers, associated large infrastructure and rivers attributed sacredness. The paper uses the case of river Kshipra flowing in the city of Ujjain to explain the shifting attribution of ‘sacred’ from natural things like rivers to materialistic things like money. The paper discusses the change in the significance of river during a world famous festival of Hindus for holy dip Simhastha. The paper explains the shift in focus of Simhastha from holy dip to crowd control, space allocation, crass commercialisation and unchecked competition. It explains using the theory of sacred and profane of Durkheim and Eliade, how in the modern time's secularisation of religion and sacralization of secular has created the sacred/profane distinction which is making the rivers only the source for consumption forgetting their actual significance. The fourth section of this issue is Politics, Law and Governance. The paper authored by Dr Adesanya Olusegun Paul and Olominu Tomi explores some of the responsible variables are a mind-body problem, alternative thinking, and poverty to mention a few. These variables are the identified drivers of dimensions of insecurity and/or crises that are witnessed in both countries. Given this, the study demonstrates the role of the fugitive youths in the abating terror attacks at the frontiers and within some regions of Nigeria and Cameroun. Also, the study argues that priority should be accorded to the factors inducing fugitive youths to embrace anti-social/anti-societal behaviours, especially terrorism within the Nigeria and Cameroun. The fifth section of this issue is Digital government/E-government/Electronic government/Online government. The paper authored by Alsaeed Abraheem and Dr Carl Adams undertakes a comparison of eGov strategies among countries at different levels of instability. It highlights the different approaches for implementing activities, and thus directs policy makers in highly unstable societies to important aspects and to embrace gaps during the implementation process. Consequently, the lessons learned by adopting best practice from different contexts enhances the process of activities’ development in an unstable environment. This paper aims to emphasise on the factors that influenced strategic planning in societies with different levels of stability to adopt eService successfully. This comparison study explores the eService strategies among three cases namely: eGov Strategy in Syria, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The result reveals the approaches that each government had adopted in order to reach their eGov potential. Authors have applied the Reinventing Government approach by Osborne and Gaebler (1992) as a theoretical framework. By using their ten principles of transforming governments this provides understanding about the context and issues of providing eGov services within the three case studies and to what degree each case strategy has an influence on the activities implemented. The paper authored by Dr Tetiana Fesenko and Dr Galyna Fesenko aims to outline the role of ICT in urban management. The digital segment is presented as significant for making cities sustainable, and for expanding access to basic services for large numbers of people. The matrix of ICT-tools in relation to sustainable cities development targets is developed. The comparative review of Digital City, Intelligent City, and Smart City is provided. The municipal e-government data of international ratings are analyzed with the special focus on aspects of online services management. The existing digital gaps between cities are pointed out in terms of e-governance maturity. It is proposed the maturity model of the municipal digital office, which it consists eight levels of the functional responsibility for urban online services development.

Download or read book Progress and Its Discontents written by Gabriel A. Almond and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2022-05-13 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Events of the past two decades have challenged many of the fundamental beliefs, institutions, and values of modern western culture--the culture of "progress." Are science and technology really progressive and beneficial? Have they led to the enhancement of welfare, greater hapiness, and moral immprovement? I s the continued growth of material productivity possible? Desirable? Are the institutions of progress viable? Progress and Its Discontents assembles the views on progress of some of America's leading humanists, scientists, and social scientists. Citing disappointed expectations of progress in spheres from science to morals and politics, and the many problems created or left untouched by progress, the editors conclude that the term no longer refers to "an inevitable sequence of improvements" but rather to "an aspiration and compelling obligation." Contributors: Nannerl O. Keohane Georg G. Iggers Alfred G. Meyer Crawford Young Francisco J. Ayala John T. Edsall Gerald Fenberg Bernard D. Davis Gerald Holton Marc J. Roberts H. Stuart Hughes Moses Abramovitz Harvey Brooks Nathan Rosenberg Hollis B. Chenery Gianfranco Poggi Aaron Wildavsky G. Bingham Powell, Jr. Samuel H. Barnes Steven Marcus Murray Krieger Robert C. Elliott Martin E. Marty Daniel Bell Frederick A. Olafson This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1982.

Download or read book A Church Drawing Near written by Paul D. L. Avis and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2004-01-01 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By first defining the core tasks (or mission) of the Church in biblical and theological terms, Paul Avis then goes on to ask how these tasks can best be carried out in the conditions of modernity and post-modernity.

Download or read book Democracy and the New Religious Pluralism written by Thomas Banchoff and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-06-07 with total page 559 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious pluralism is everywhere in today's politics. Increased immigration flows, the collapse of communism, and the globalization of communications technologies have all fostered a wider variety of religious beliefs, practices, and organizations within and across democratic societies. This is true in both the United States and Europe, where growing and diverse minority communities are transforming the political landscape. As a result, controversies over such things as headscarves and depictions of Mohammed are unsettling a largely secular Europe, while a Christian majority in the US faces familiar questions about church-state relations amidst unprecedented religious diversity. Far from receding into the background, religious language pervades arguments around established issues such as abortion and capital punishment, and new ones such as stem cell research and same-sex marriage. In Democracy and the New Religious Pluralism, leading scholars from multiple disciplines explore these dynamics and their implications for democratic theory and practice. What are the contours of this new religious pluralism? What are its implications for the theory and practice of democracy? Does increasing religious pluralism erode the cultural and social foundations of democracy? To what extent do different religious communities embrace similar -- or at least compatible -- ethical and political commitments? By seeking answers to these questions and revealing religious pluralism as both a source of animosity and a potent force for peaceful engagement, this book offers a revealing look at the future of religion in democratic societies.

Download or read book A Sociology of Spirituality written by Peter C. Jupp and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-03-16 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Religion and Modernity written by Detlef Pollack and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017-12-08 with total page 432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is not a book that provides a new integrated theory of religious change in modern societies, but rather one that develops theoretical elements that contribute to the understanding of some contemporary religious developments. Most of the approaches in sociology of religion are prone to emphasise either processes of religious decline or of religious upswing. For example, secularization theory usually includes a couple of relevant factors--such as functional differentiation, economic affluence or social equality--in order to account for religious change. However, the result of such a theory's empirical analyses seems to be certain in advance, namely that the social relevance of religion is decreasing. In contrast, the religious market model devised by sociologists of religion in the US is inclined to detect everywhere processes of religious upsurge. Religion and Modernity: An International Comparison avoids a purely theoretically based perspective on religious changes. For this reason, Detlef Pollack and Gergely Rosta do not begin with theoretical propositions but with questions. The authors raise the question of how the social significance of religion in its various facets has changed in modern societies, and explain what factors and conditions have contributed to these changes.