Download or read book Salvation Goods and Religious Markets written by Jörg Stolz and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2008 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea that religion has to succeed in a «market», selling «salvation goods», has proved to be extremely attractive to scholars in sociology and the study of religion. Max Weber used the term «salvation good» to compare different religious traditions. Pierre Bourdieu employed the term in order to analyze «religious economy». And recently, an American group of researchers advocating «rational choice of religion» put the theme at the forefront of current debates. This book - the fruit of an International Congress in Lausanne in April 2005 - brings together leading specialists in the fields of sociology and the study of religion who discuss the terms «salvation goods» (or religious goods) and «religious market». The authors test the applicability of these concepts by using specific examples and they either deliberately advocate or criticize Weberian, Bourdieusian or rational-choice perspectives.
Download or read book The Market as God written by Harvey Cox and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2016-09-12 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Essential and thoroughly engaging...Harvey Cox’s ingenious sense of how market theology has developed a scripture, a liturgy, and sophisticated apologetics allow us to see old challenges in a remarkably fresh light.” —E. J. Dionne, Jr. We have fallen in thrall to the theology of supply and demand. According to its acolytes, the Market is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. It can raise nations and ruin households, and comes complete with its own doctrines, prophets, and evangelical zeal. Harvey Cox brings this theology out of the shadows, demonstrating that the way the world economy operates is shaped by a global system of values that can be best understood as a religion. Drawing on biblical sources and the work of social scientists, Cox points to many parallels between the development of Christianity and the Market economy. It is only by understanding how the Market reached its “divine” status that can we hope to restore it to its proper place as servant of humanity. “Cox argues that...we are now imprisoned by the dictates of a false god that we ourselves have created. We need to break free and reclaim our humanity.” —Forbes “Cox clears the space for a new generation of Christians to begin to develop a more public and egalitarian politics.” —The Nation
Download or read book Religions as Brands written by Jean-Claude Usunier and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-01 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the twentieth century, religion has gone on the market place. Churches and religious groups are forced to 'sell god' in order to be attractive to 'religious consumers'. More and more, religions are seen as 'brands' that have to be recognizable to their members and the general public. What does this do to religion? How do religious groups and believers react? What is the consequence for society as a whole? This book brings together some of the best international specialists from marketing, sociology and economics in order to answer these and similar questions. The interdisciplinary book treats new developments in three fields that have hitherto evolved rather independently: the commoditization of religion, the link between religion and consumer behavior, and the economics of religion. By combining and cross-fertilizing these three fields, the book shows just what happens when religions become brands.
Download or read book Religious Mobility and Social Aspirations of Neopentecostals in Lima Peru written by Uta Ihrke-Buchroth and published by LIT Verlag Münster. This book was released on 2014 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book investigates the religious and social background of members of neo-pentecostal mega-churches in Lima, Peru. From a sociological perspective, it examines the social factors of religious mobility of neo-pentecostals to and between these churches. The book's findings address the question of whether religious mobility of neo-pentecostals serves as a springboard for upward social mobility. (Series: Beitrage zur Missionswissenschaft und Interkulturellen Theologie - Vol. 31) [Subject: Sociology, Religious Studies, Christianity, Pentecostalism, Latin America Studies]
Download or read book Religion in the Neoliberal Age written by François Gauthier and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book, together with a complementary volume 'Religion in Consumer Society', focuses on religion, neoliberalism and consumer society; offering an overview of an emerging field of research in the study of contemporary religion. Claiming that we are entering a new phase of state-religion relations, the editors examine how this is historically anchored in modernity but affected by neoliberalization and globalization of society and social life. Seemingly distant developments, such as marketization and commoditization of religion as well as legalization and securitization of social conflicts, are transforming historical expressions of 'religion' and 'religiosity' yet these changes are seldom if ever understood as forming a coherent, structured and systemic ensemble. 'Religion in the Neoliberal Age' includes an extensive introduction framing the research area, and linking it to existing scholarship, before looking at four key issues: 1. How changes in state structures have empowered new modes of religious activity in welfare production and the delivery of a range of state services; 2. How are religion-state relations transforming under the pressures of globalization and neoliberalism; 3. How historical churches and their administrations are undergoing change due to structural changes in society, and what new forms of religious body are emerging; 4. How have law and security become new areas for solving religious conflicts. Outlining changes in both the political-institutional and cultural spheres, the contributors offer an international overview of developments in different countries and state of the art representation of religion in the new global political economy.
Download or read book Religious Freedom and Religious Pluralism in Africa written by Pieter Coertzen and published by AFRICAN SUN MeDIA. This book was released on 2016-05-22 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ÿAfrica continues to be a region with strong commitments to religious freedom and religious pluralism. These, however, are rarely mere facts on the ground ? they are legal, political, social, and theological projects that require considerable effort to realise. This volume ? compiling the proceedings of the third annual conference of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies ? focuses on various issues which vastly effect the understanding of religious pluralism in Africa. These include, amongst others, religious freedom as a human right, the importance of managing religious pluralism, and the permissibility of religious practice and observance in South African public schools.
Download or read book Religion and Trade written by Francesca Trivellato and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 297 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This vibrant collected volume considers the question: how, exactly, did the relationship between trade and religion develop historically? Examining a wide range of commercial exchanges across religious boundaries around the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans during the second millennium, it offers a variety of perspectives on this intriguing and surprisingly neglected subject.
Download or read book Religion in Consumer Society written by François Gauthier and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting an overview of an emerging field in the study of contemporary religion, this book, together with a complementary volume Religion in the Neoliberal Age, explores issues of religion, neoliberalism and consumer society. Claiming that we have entered a new phase that implies more than the recasting of state-religion relations, the authors examine how religious changes are historically anchored in modernity but affected by the commoditization, mediatization, neoliberalization and globalization of society and social life. Religion in Consumer Society explores religion as both shaped by consumer culture and as shaping consumer culture. Following an introduction which critically analyses studies on consumer culture and integrates scholarship in the sociology of religion, this book explores the following topics: how consumerism and electronic media have shaped globalized culture, and how this is affecting religion; the dynamics and characteristics of often overlooked middle-class religion, and how these relate to globalization and differences between 'developed' and 'emerging' countries; emerging trends, and how we understand phenomena as different as mega churches and holistic spiritualistic journeys, and how the pressures of consumer culture act on religious traditions, indigenous and exogenous; the politics of religious phenomena in the Age of Neoliberalism; and the hybrid areas emerging from these reconfigurations of religion and the market. Outlining changes in both the political-institutional and cultural spheres, the contributors offer an international overview of developments in different countries and state of the art representation of religion in the new global political economy.
Download or read book New Religions and State s Response to Religious Diversification in Contemporary Vietnam written by Chung Van Hoang and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-07-03 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book approaches newly emerging religious groups through the interplay between religious and non-religious spheres in the specific context of Vietnam. It considers the new religious groups as a part of religious reconfiguration in Vietnam caused by intensified interactions among these spheres. It explores changes of relationship between religions, and changes between the religious sphere and the political, economic and public spheres in contemporary Vietnam. Specifically, it traces trajectories of religious development in relation to politico-economic changes in this rapidly modernising nation. It tests a hypothesis that at least some new yet unrecognized new religious groups have a positive/ active role in modernisation rather than a negative/reactive role. To this end, the book draws on a number of research approaches and methodologies in an effort to provide readers with a multi-faceted understanding of Vietnam’s new religious groups. The research is interdisciplinary in orientation, drawing on sociology and anthropology. It is also comparative in that it bases its argument on a consideration of three distinct new religious groups in Vietnam. The research is also qualitative and ethnographic in that it drew on some of the techniques associated with participant observation during a sustained period of fieldwork amongst the three religious groups. The concept of religious reconfiguration developed in this book provides a framework for the study of religion in Vietnam which opens the way to further analysis from a comparative perspective. Meanwhile, an emphasis upon religious reinvention which addresses processes of remaking, transforming, legitimating and accommodating can be useful for research into New Religious Movements elsewhere in Asia. A research in the challenges of new religions could act as a catalyst for interdisciplinary studies based on detailed empirical study of religious diversity and of religious freedom by other scholars. It is hoped that this research might help to give a voice to religious minorities that are often the victim of stereotyping, misunderstanding, and punitive treatment. The book is suitable for post-graduate students and social researchers who are interested in religious revival, religious diversification, State-religion relationships, and State's regulation of new religions.
Download or read book Religion and the Morality of the Market written by Daromir Rudnyckyj and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-30 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, there has been a widespread affirmation of economic ideologies that conceive the market as an autonomous sphere of human practice, holding that market principles should be applied to human action at large. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the ascendance of market reason has been countered by calls for reforms of financial markets and for the consideration of moral values in economic practice. This book intervenes in these debates by showing how neoliberal market practices engender new forms of religiosity, and how religiosity shapes economic actions. It reveals how religious movements and organizations have reacted to the increasing prominence of market reason in unpredictable, and sometimes counterintuitive, ways. Using a range of examples from different countries and religious traditions, the book illustrates the myriad ways in which religious and market moralities are closely imbricated in diverse global contexts.
Download or read book Faith in the Market written by John Michael Giggie and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reveals the many ways in which religious groups actually embraced commercial culture to establish an urban presence. [back cover].
Download or read book Megachurches in Africa written by Babatunde A. Adedibu and published by African Books Collective. This book was released on 2024-10-04 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Six chapters include: A General Overview of Professional Ethics; The Legal Profession and the Kenyan System; Advocate-Client Relationship; Unqualified Persons Acting as Advocates; Remuneration of Advocates; Professional Misconduct and offenses by Advocates.
Download or read book Towards an Ethical Framework for Poverty reduction written by and published by ISPCK. This book was released on with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Un Believing in Modern Society written by Jörg Stolz and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-06-23 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Marketplace of Christianity written by Robert B. Ekelund, Jr. and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008-09-26 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Economics can help us understand the evolution and development of religion, from the market penetration of the Reformation to an exploration of today's hot-button issues including evolution and gay marriage. This startlingly original (and sure to be controversial) account of the evolution of Christianity shows that the economics of religion has little to do with counting the money in the collection basket and much to do with understanding the background of today's religious and political divisions. Since religion is a set of organized beliefs, and a church is an organized body of worshippers, it's natural to use a science that seeks to explain the behavior of organizations—economics—to understand the development of organized religion. The Marketplace of Christianity applies the tools of economic theory to illuminate the emergence of Protestantism in the sixteenth century and to examine contemporary religion-influenced issues, including evolution and gay marriage. The Protestant Reformation, the authors argue, can be seen as a successful penetration of a religious market dominated by a monopoly firm—the Catholic Church. The Ninety-five Theses nailed to the church door in Wittenberg by Martin Luther raised the level of competition within Christianity to a breaking point. The Counter-Reformation, the Catholic reaction, continued the competitive process, which came to include "product differentiation" in the form of doctrinal and organizational innovation. Economic theory shows us how Christianity evolved to satisfy the changing demands of consumers—worshippers. The authors of The Marketplace of Christianity avoid value judgments about religion. They take preferences for religion as given and analyze its observable effects on society and the individual. They provide the reader with clear and nontechnical background information on economics and the economics of religion before focusing on the Reformation and its aftermath. Their analysis of contemporary hot-button issues—science vs. religion, liberal vs. conservative, clerical celibacy, women and gay clergy, gay marriage—offers a vivid illustration of the potential of economic analysis to contribute to our understanding of religion.
Download or read book Religious Diversity in Post Soviet Society written by Milda Ališauskiene and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the end of state repression against religion, two major processes have taken place in the formerly socialist countries: historically dominant churches strive to reassert their position in society, while new religious groups and ideas from various parts of the world are proliferating. This generates pluralism of religious communities and individual religious attitudes. Religious Diversity in Post-Soviet Society presents the first collection of ethnographies of this new religious diversity for Lithuania, a country that has a long history of a dominant Catholic Church. The authors reveal how Catholicism has become increasingly diversified and other religions (Charismatic Protestantism, Baltic Paganism, Eastern religions and other alternative spiritualities) are claiming their space in the religious field.
Download or read book Religious Diversity in Post Soviet Society written by Ingo W Schröder and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2013-06-28 with total page 227 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the end of state repression against religion, two major processes have taken place in the formerly socialist countries: historically dominant churches strive to reassert their position in society, while new religious groups and ideas from various parts of the world are proliferating. This generates pluralism of religious communities and individual religious attitudes. Religious Diversity in Post-Soviet Society presents the first collection of ethnographies of this new religious diversity for Lithuania, a country that has a long history of a dominant Catholic Church. The authors reveal how Catholicism has become increasingly diversified and other religions (Charismatic Protestantism, Baltic Paganism, Eastern religions and other alternative spiritualities) are claiming their space in the religious field.
