The Concept of "The World" in Sociology: A Commentary on Roland Robertson's Theory of Globalization

Abstract

There has been since late nineteenth century an important interaction between and sociology in their understanding of concept of the world; in both disciplines the is simultaneously significant and equivocal. In theology, it is that which God created, but it is also corrupt place of human habitation. As a result, it is synonymous with sin and Devil. Thus, the expresses alienation or homelessness of human beings: While is place of human beings, they are frequently regarded as rootless strangers. For example, it has often been claimed correctly that Karl Marx's idea of estrangement had its origins in Judeo-Christian theme of separation of God and Man.' Communism provided a secular soteriology for transcending this estrangement. A similar theme runs through Karl Mannheim's analysis of utopian critique of the (Mannheim 1991); through Ernest Bloch's inquiry into utopia as an anticipatory consciousness' (Bloch 1986); and through Walter Benjamin's inverse theology (Bolz and van Reijen 1991). Alternatively, religious studies have traditionally recognized world as global movements which necessarily have a conception of as a place and of their place in world. Different religions have obviously had different conceptions of nature of world, and our contemporary view of globe can be seen as partly shaped by these primitive attempts to think globally. The paradox of idea of a religion is that there must be something that lies outside or beyond; it typically involves counter-idea of a region which resists incorporation within Household of Faith or City of God. Thus, religious ideas about the have necessarily promoted idea of Other. For example, Islamic Household of Faith stands in opposition to Household of War. Within contemporary poststructuralism, concept of Other beyond universalistic, standardized and domesticated