The rest of beliefs

Question 1

explanations of secularisation

Answer 1

rationalisation= weber
structural differentiation= parsons
religious diversion= Berger

Question 2

Weber’s explanation of secularisation

Answer 2

rational way of thinking replace religious beliefs in magic
protestant reformation started process of rationalisation
decline of the “enchanted gate”
disenchantment due to science+ technology

Question 3

How does Bruce support rationalisation

Answer 3

there is a technological world view that shows a belief in technology + science becoming more important than religion

Question 4

Parsons explanation of secularisation

Answer 4

structural differentiation
church has lost its influence due to the other institutions takes roles away from church e.g. school
religion= less important to function church losing its functions means that religion declines

Question 5

Berger’s explanation of secularisation

Answer 5

religious diversity increasing- society no longer unified under one sacred canopy as there are a plurality of life worlds. This means people question their religion that were prev. dom.
means plausibility structures are questioned+ religion decreases as people dont have one dom. religion

Question 6

Berger evaluation of secularisation

Answer 6

Berger evaluates himself in 1999
changes his views = now argues that diversity+ choice actually stimulate interests and participation in religion

Question 7

what is secularisation

Answer 7

declining power and influence of religion
Bruce= high point 1860- 1910 28% of adults vs 2005 12% of British adults

Question 8

What is fundamentalism according to Giddens?

Answer 8

fundamentalists are traditionalists who seek return to basics
believe unquestioningly in literal sacred scriptures
believe in the only truth
intolerant+ rely on guardians of religion

Question 9

Giddens fundamentalism+ modernity

Answer 9

late modernity
both a product + reaction to modernity
choice+ uncertainty and risk
attract to fundamentalism is certainty of beliefs
gay marriage, divorce etc. are a threat to how religious people

Question 10

cosmopolitanism

Answer 10

Castells= post-modernity produces 2 types responses
resistant identity- a defensive reaction and retreat into fundamentalist communities
project identity- the response of those who are forward looking + engage with social movements e.g. feminism

Question 11

cosmopolitanism + Giddens

Answer 11

is a product of globalisation
opens us to new ideas
it requires that we think reflexively and makes choices about what we believe in Contemporary beliefs+ spirituality are more personal journey than collective worship

Question 12

Lyon and religion renewal and choice

Answer 12

globalisation= religion online
disneyfication of religion= disembedded- no longer linked to structures e.g. church
people no longer have to attend church therefore secularisation is not significant= people part of religion in different format

Question 13

Davie+ religion renewal and choice

Answer 13

believing without belonging
people no longer feel obliged to go to church
no longer an obligation and more personal choice
adult baptisms are rising= people still making the choice to be religious
vicarious religion= a couple of professional clergy practice religion on behalf of a larger number

Question 14

Davie+ the NHS

Answer 14

the spiritual health service
in Europe= major national churches seen as public utilities like a “ spiritual health service” like the NHS
used when needed e.g. for rites of passage as well as major national occasions e.g. Princess Diana’s funeral

Question 15

Voas and Crockett criticise Davie

Answer 15

Neither believing nor belonging
evidence = 5750 respondents both belief and church attendance is down

Question 16

Hervieu-Leger

Answer 16

spiritual shopping
cultural amnesia= kids not having religion imposed on them
not being handed down generations
parents let kids choose religion
people as individual shoppers and is no longer a collective identity

Question 17

S+B criticise secularisation

Answer 17

Stark and Bainbridge
critical of secularisation theories for being Eurocentric- continuing strength in America and elsewhere
distorted view of the past- there was never a golden age of religion

Question 18

religious market theory

Answer 18

based on 2 assumptions ]people are naturally religious + religion meets peoples needs- the demand for religion is constant
weigh up pros and cons
religions are like businesses that compete in a spiritual market place

Question 19

secularisation in America

Answer 19

Wilson found that 45% of americans attended church on sunday
an expression of the american way of life than religious beliefs
america is secularised as religion has become superficial

Question 20

Declining church attendance+ Bruce

Answer 20

opinion poll research= suggested is at 40% of US population
Hadaway= to test this= carried out headcount+ interviews
levels were exaggerated and that it was 83% higher than the researcher estimated
people lying on their surveys

Question 21

Bruce- the decline in religion

Answer 21

religion become more like therapy
america= religion has been psychologised
helps it to fit with a secular society
changed to seek personal improvement NAM= crystals

Question 22

the Kendal project

Answer 22

Heelas and Woodhead
the growth of NAMs
use of technology+ growing individualisation
changes to mainstream religion

Question 23

The clash of Civilisations

Answer 23

Huntington
pre 1989- conflict was political
post 1989- conflicts are religious
globalisation has rendered nationality as meaningless
conflict between religion e.g. 9/11 has increased since the collapse of communism in 1989

Question 24

Huntington’s reason for the clash of civilisations

Answer 24

1) communism fall= political differences between nations less important as a source of identity
2) globalisation has made nation states less significant- a gap that religion filled
3) globalisation makes contact between civilisations easier and more frequent, increasing likelihood of old conflicts re-emerging

Question 25

evaluation of Huntington

Answer 25

Polemas- pick+ mix identities- no singular way of defining identities- not just religion

Question 26

Cultural defence Iran

Answer 26

Islam became the the focus for opposition of corrupt, western-backed monarchy led by the Shah
modernisation= gap between rich and poor grew
Cleric Khomeini= returned to Islamic religious values = inspired revolution led to the Islamic republic

Question 27

Cultural Defence Poland

Answer 27

the catholic church symbolised resistance to the communist regime backed by the soviet union 1945-1989
served as a rallying point for oppression e.g. the trade union solidarity= pope+ St Paul = encouraged revolution against discrimination of soviet union

Question 28

Existential Security Theory

Answer 28

Norris+ Inglehart
critical of the religious market theory
religion promote a sense of security where there are low levels of existential security
secularisation is happening but not everywhere

Question 29

Religion in a global context

Answer 29

India
gdp increasing- development of technology or globalisation hasn’t led to a decline in religion
nationalism closely tied to hinduism

Question 30

Nanda

Answer 30

India’s fastest growing economy but despite modernisation religion is growing just as fast
Hindu ultra nationalism
reasons=
Hindu has a this worldly orientation
religion is fashionable with with m/c
increasing interest in low status gods
modern Hinduism legitimates wealth

Question 31

Latin America

Answer 31

Berger-Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism in Latin America acts as a ‘functional equivalent’ to Weber’s protestant ethic
encourages development of capitalism
increasing globalisation as it increases capitalism

Question 32

Marxist views of ideology

Answer 32

Gramsci hegemony
maintain false class consciousness e.g. through education
w/c accept bourgeoisie hegemony cuz the ideologu makes it difficult to see any other alternative

Question 33

Fisher

Answer 33

supports Gramsci
it is impossible to imagine a non capitalist society
can imagine the end of the world but not the end of capitalism

Question 34

evaluation of Marxist views of ideology

Answer 34

Karl Popper
creating a theory resisting capitalist ideology is actually imposing another ideology
impossible to test = everything is dismissed as capitalist propaganda
falsifiability

Question 35

feminist views on ideology

Answer 35

patriarchal ideology that men dominate society culturally and economically- reflect their views on religion- stained glass ceiling

Question 36

Oakley and ideology

Answer 36

believes ideologies promote patriarchy for generations e.g. blocking women from positions of power
science in Bowlby’s study of maternal deprivation= mothers spend time away from baby- baby is damaged
justifies gender inequality

Question 37

evaluation of Oakley’s views

Answer 37

Marxist feminist- Barett
women’s oppression due to capitalism
reserve army of labour
liberal feminists= march of progress

Question 38

Post modernist views of ideology

Answer 38

scientists produce truth about natural world
Rorty- science just replaced priests as the source of truth
Lyotard- science doesn’t stand apart from the natural world
language shapes the way we think while scientific language opens our eyes to some truth but closes our eyes to others everything is a meta-narrative

Question 39

Comte

Answer 39

scientific belief is different from other beliefs
does not rely on peoples faith but rather evidence
can be tested
a move towards a scientific belief system represents progress for society

Question 40

scientism

Answer 40

science+ religion are seen as competing scientism is ideology that scientific method= true knowledge of the world religion cannot be proven
projecting and justifying the interests of scientists
Darwin

Question 41

Kuhn and paradigms

Answer 41

challenges falsifiability
scientists work through paradigms= a particular set of accepted ideas about the way things are
scientists do nothing to falsify themselves- they hold to the dominant paradigm until it is Overturned
sociology not a science as it hasn’t found one unifying paradigm

Question 42

Mannheim

Answer 42

the free floating intelligentsia
solution is to detach intellectuals from social groups and create a non- aligned or free floating intelligentsia
an objective group of people who have no ideology work in the interests of everyone
able to synthesise elements from different ideologies and arrive at a total world view