Religion In Global Society Research Articles

Sensing religion, observing religion, reconstructing religion: Contingency and pluralization in post-Westphalian context

The article argues that what is performed and understood as religion in global society has in the course of the modern centuries come to be increasingly dominated by the idea that religion is something distinct and differentiated, something distinct from what is not religion, namely the secular. It manifests itself principally as a plurality of identified and performed religions. Towards the latter half of the 20th century, however, that dominant understanding of religion has come to be increasingly challenged by alternative ways of ‘sensing religion’, alternative ways that are to some extent a reflection of new developments in this domain of religion in global society. They are also indicative of a reassessment of alternative ways of understanding and doing religion that have always accompanied the dominant sense. This reassessment allows the ‘hidden’ and ‘ignored’ to appear as religion and be recognized as such without negating the hitherto dominant form. The first of these developments is analyzed as the construction of a Westphalian system for religion; the reassessment and transformation is discussed under the contrasting idea of a post-Westphalian circumstance.

Risshō Kōseikai within Globalization

Based on several streams of globalization theory and the author’s previous work, this article proposes a multidimensional approach to the study of Risshō Kōseikai under globalization. The analysis shows that this Buddhism-based new religious movement is involved in global dynamics in various guises. Not only does Risshō Kōseikai contribute to global culture through its presence on the Internet, international cooperation, and other activities, but it also acts as a glocalizer by creating new religious hybrid forms at the local level, as is evident in the recent institutional interest in the environmental crisis. There are also indications that these processes, which per se denote a positive engagement with globalization, may be entangled with the defense of particularism. Reactions to the increasing global availability of religious communication and the relativization of religious values are also explored, which indicate the official endorsement of pluralism and an underlying tendency toward inclusivism. At the systemic level, Risshō Kōseikai (as part of the global religious subsystem) is shown to be engaged in border negotiations with dominant global subsystems such as politics and science, and in addressing residual problems left unsolved by these subsystems in an attempt to find legitimation for religion in global society.

Is religion a force for good? Reformulating the discourse on religion and international development

Questions about the role of religion in international development highlight the ongoing tension between traditional and late modern societies, and the predicaments of international collaboration and interdependence in a postcolonial global context. They also highlight the need to clarify the ethical and practical contexts of development, given that religion crosses the boundaries between “traditional” and “modern”, “oppressor” and “oppressed”. This article argues that development workers must be knowledgeable about, concerned with and sensitive to the religious interests and values of the local community. Secular development policies must therefore seriously consider the importance of religion in global society. Résumé Le questionnement actuel sur le rôle de la religion dans le développement international témoigne de la tension entre les sociétés traditionnelles et les sociétés modernes avancées et des difficultés de la collaboration internationale et de l'interdépendance dans un contexte postcolonial mondial. Il invite à clarifier le contexte éthique et pratique du développement étant donné que la religion traverse la limite entre le traditionnel et le moderne et entre l'oppresseur et l'opprimé. Les praticiens du développement doivent faire preuve d'une grande sensibilité à l'égard des intérêts et des valeurs des communautés locales. Les politiques laïques de développement doivent également tenir compte de l'importance de la religion dans la société mondiale.

Global Culture, Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity: A Theory, Culture & Society Special Issue

Global Culture(s) - Mike Featherstone An Introduction Mapping the Global Condition - Roland Robertson Culture as the Ideological Background of the Modern World-System - Immanuel Wallerstein Culture and the World-System - Roy Boyne Culture as the World-System - Immanuel Wallerstein A Reply to Roy Boyne Turning World-Systems Theory on its Head - Alberg Bergesen Models of the Modern World-System - Peter Worsley Theory, Culture and Post-Industrial Society - Margaret Archer The Idea of Revolution - Alain Touraine Modernity and Ambivalence - Zygmunt Bauman Towards a Global Culture? - Anthony D Smith The Dream of a Secular Ecumene - Friedrich H Tenbruck The Meaning and Limits of Policies of Development Nationalism, Globalization and Modernity - Johann Arnason Cosmopolitans and Locals in World Culture - Ulf Hannerz Conflicts of Culture in Cross-Border Legal Relations - Volkmar Gessner and Angelike Schade A Research Topic in the Sociology of Law The Big Bang and the Law - Yves Dezalay The Internationalization and Restructuration of the Legal Field Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy - Arjun Appadurai Being in the World - Jonathan Friedman Globalization and Localization AIDS as a Globalizing Panic - John O'Neill The Two Faces of Sociology - Bryan S Turner Global or National? Norbert Elias's Theory of Humanity as a Very Long-Term Social Process - Stephen Mennell Privatization and the Public Influence of Religion in Global Society - Peter Beyer Architecture, Capital and the Globalization of Culture - Anthony King

Privatization and the Public Influence of Religion in Global Society

Privatization and the Public Influence of Religion in Global Society