[5.0] Religion and development Flashcards
(28 cards)
What is an example of how religion contributed to development?
Weber’s Protestant Ethic.
What has globalisation in India done?
It has brought rapid economic growth to the country and raised India’s prominence on the political stage.
What has globalisation brought to the Indian middle class?
Prosperity.
What did Nanda (2008) write about?
The role of Hinduism in legitimating the rise of a new Hindu ultra-nationalism and the prosperity of the Indian middle class.
What would secularisation theory predict about the religiosity of those who are in the newly prosperous Indian middle class?
It would suggest that these people would be the first to abandon religion, but the vast majority of the class still believes in the supernatural.
What did the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (2007) find?
Indians are becoming more religious, 5% said that their religiosity had declined whereas 30% said it had got stronger.
In India, what is fashionable?
It is fashionable to be religious and be seen to be so.
Which gods are the middle class drawn to?
The village gods and goddesses who are seen to better respond to people’s needs than the traditional Hindu gods.
What does Nanda reject as an explanation for the middle class’ religiosity?
Poverty and existential security, as they are not poor, but are very secure yet still religious.
What does Nanda argue the religiosity is a response to?
Their ambivalence of their new found wealth, which stems from tension between traditional Hindu beliefs of renunciation of materialism and their new prosperity.
What do the ‘tele-gurus’ preach?
Desire is not bad but is a manifestation of divinity that motivates people to do things.
What is a secondary purpose of religious rituals?
They give people a chance to show off their wealth.
What do modern versions of Hinduism do?
They legitimate the position of the middle class and allow them to adjust to globalised consumer capitalism.
What did the Pew Global Attitude Survey find?
93% of Indians agreed with the statement ‘our people are not perfect, but our culture is superior to others’.
What has Hinduism become?
A civil religion.
What does the fact that Hinduism is a civil religion mean?
There is now a wider gulf between Hindus and non-Hindus.
What else has Hinduism influenced?
Public life, Hindu sciences such as astrology are now being taught as academic subjects in public universities.
What is the Indian Ministry of Defence funding research into?
Weapons with magical powers described in Hindu texts.
What is the Health Ministry funding research into?
The use of cow urine as a cure for all diseases.
Which east Asian countries have successfully industrialised in recent years?
South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.
How does Redding (1990) describe the Chinese post-Confucian values?
As encouraging hard work, discipline, frugality and a commitment to self-improvement - similar to the Protestant Ethic.
What does Berger (2003) argue about Pentecostalism in Latin America?
He argues that it acts as a functional equivalent to the Protestant Ethic, encouraging capitalism in the same way Calvinism did.
What kind of lifestyle does Pentecostalism demand?
An ascetic lifestyle, emphasising discipline, hard work and abstinence from alcohol.
What else is needed other than religious ideas to lift a society out of poverty?
Natural material resources.
