Religious Market Research Articles

Mercado religioso e mercado como religião (Religious Market and Market as Religion) - DOI: 10.5752/P.2175-5841.2014v12n34p290

The theory of the religious market begins with the observation of religious pluralism and comes to the conclusion that, in this situation, religion becomes a matter of personal or family choice and it is established a situation of competition among religions subordinated to the logic of the market economy. Thus, religions reduced to the sphere of private life can no longer perform the traditional role of religions in legitimizing the whole social order. This article analyzes the thesis of the subordination of religion to the logic of the market economy and puts forward the hypothesis that the traditional function of the religion of absolutizing the relative and legitimizing the arbitrary is exercised today by the capitalist market system itself; and, because of that, the logic of the market economy has become the natural” way of thinking today, even to think about religion. To this purpose, it dialogues mainly with the thought of P. Berger, P. Bourdieu, M. Weber, W. Benjamin, K. Marx, F. Hinkelammert and H. Assmann, showing how the theme of faith in and sacralization of market appears in discourses of economists.

Regime Type, Religion-State Arrangements, and Religious Markets in the Muslim World

This paper analyzes the effects of religious regulation and favoritism on religious markets in the Muslim world. Specifically, the paper examines to what extent the institutional promotion of Islam has generated more robust national religious markets and whether levels of political openness have conditioned such robustness. The paper builds a “comparative political economy” approach to analyze Muslim-majority religious markets by drawing on a more complex understanding of the varieties of ways in which states institutionalize their relationships with the religions of their nations. In doing so, the paper argues that some types of state-sponsored religious monopolies are more efficient at promoting religious dynamism than others. A cross-national analysis of religiosity in the Muslim-majority world suggests that religiously friendly policies in democratic settings can boost national rates of religiosity and that the possibility of religious coercion in authoritarian settings magnifies the effects of the promotion (or de-promotion) of religion.

South American Evangelicals’ Re-conquest of Europe

This article focuses on networks of South-American preachers, led by charismatic characters such as the Argentinean pastor Carlos Annacondia, who export themselves not only to countries within the Americas but also to Europe. The prevailing justification among Latin-American Evangelicals for undertaking this ‘reverse mission’ (Freston) is in the view that especially the ‘old’ Roman Catholic Europe is spiritually ‘cooled down’ and that the time is ripe for re-evangelizing it. This study analyzes the way in which network-based charismatic entrepreneurship has encouraged transnational imaginaries of re-conquering Europe spiritually, more specifically in terms of the meanings the members of these networks attribute to the ‘spiritual re-conquest’. I conclude by suggesting that, similar to flows from other regions in the global South, such as Africa, the much vaunted ‘reverse mission’ to Europe is vested with meanings that transcend the spiritual re-conquest as such. In the case of Latin America, this article argues, the chief motivation is symbolic: to strengthen the status of local churches and their leaders against the backdrop of a highly competitive religious market on the Latin-American sub-continent.

The death and resurrection of the American religious marketplace

This article expands upon existing academic literature examining both the decline and fragmentation of the American Christian Right. Specifically, it explores the impact of a fragmented evangelical body from a religious market perspective. It asserts that recent declines in evangelical church membership are largely due to the over-generality of its message, which in and of itself is a by-product of the broadcast age. Predictably, this over-generality has failed to cater to the diverse theological and spiritual needs of American churchgoers. However, with the rapid proliferation of Internet technologies, new religious frontiers are being explored and, as a result, many Christians are going elsewhere to tend to their spiritual needs. This process further reinforces the fragmentation of the evangelical body. This article similarly considers how with the growth of new and divergent religious movements, such as creation care and the emerging church, new religious leaders are finding their voice and preaching a message that diverges significantly from the old evangelical vanguard. While some might be tempted to view these developments in purely theological terms, the cultural fragmentation of the American evangelical community is not just a religious issue. A vibrant religious marketplace threatens the religious monopoly of the Christian Right, and by extension, the articulation of social conservatism and Republican politics. As new religious movements grow, so too do new conceptualisations and understandings of what it means to be a Christian and to hold Christian values. In facilitating the breakdown of the religious monologue of the Christian Right, the Internet is unsettling long-established political coalitions and giving rise to new political realities. To support these claims, this article relies on the combination of previous academic works, the reporting of recent religious and political developments, as well as personal interviews. The aim of this article is to provide a rich textual account of the state of evangelical Christianity as it is lived and experienced in a new media saturated environment.

Urbanization and religious market : A case study on Protestant churches in Changsin-dong, 1960’s∼2000’s

Urbanization and religious market : A case study on Protestant churches in Changsin-dong, 1960’s∼2000’s

Carreira do pregador-itinerante

O presente artigo tem como objetivo investigar uma dimensão particular de uma modalidade de carreira específica de pregação no interior do mercado pentecostal de pregações e testemunhos: a de “pregador-itinerante”. O “pregador-itinerante” vive do expediente de “dar seu testemunho” em igrejas e eventos, narrando episódios dramáticos de seu passado mundano e lutando por se inserir nas margens de um mercado religioso em expansão. Ao narrar sua história de vida pregressa, o “pregador-itinerante” a constrói como a dramatização de uma vida absolutamente nua, pura materialidade biológica, sem qualquer qualificativo ético-político. Partindo da análise do filósofo político Giorgio Agamben sobre os testemunhos dos sobreviventes dos campos de concentração nazistas, o presente artigo investiga como o testemunho do “pregador-itinerante” é elaborado em cima da exacerbação simbólica da “vida nua”, que se transforma em mercadoria a ser vendida no mercado religioso. Quanto mais “nua” a exposição da própria vida dilacerada, mais possibilidade de sedução e vida adquire.

Martin Reppenhagen, Auf dem Weg zu einer missionalen Kirche: Die Diskussion um eine “missional church” in den USA. BEG Beiträg e zu Evangelisation und Gemeinde-Entwicklung, Band 17. Neukirchen-Vluyn, Deutschland: Neukirchener Verlag, 2011, 412 pp.

Martin Reppenhagen, Auf dem Weg zu einer missionalen Kirche: Die Diskussion um eine in den USA. BEG Beitrag e zu Evangelisation und Gemeinde-Entwicklung, Band 17. Neukirchen-Vluyn, Deutschland: Neukirchener Verlag, 2011, 412 pp. Martin Reppenhagen has been, since 2004, wissenschafdicher Mitarbeiter at the Institut zur Erforschung von Evangelisation und Gemeindeentwicklung at the Universitat Greifswald. This book is a shortened and revised version of his 2010 PhD dissertation from the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universitat Greifswald under the supervision of Michael Herbst. This connection is important, for it situates well the content and intent of the work under consideration. The text itself has eight chapters, which might be loosely outlined as follows: the first four chapters (which constitute half the book) are scene-setting and rehearse the major diagnostic concerns underlying and the genealogies informing the contemporary missional church discussion. The major fifth chapter paints a picture of its central theological thrusts. Chapters 6 and 7 might be seen as concrete examples of how missional church theory is worked out. Chapter 8 draws implications for the German context. Reppenhagen introduces the work by noting the relatively recent interest within the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) in the missional church discussion. The work seeks, then, not to reinvent the wheel, but to introduce the insights from the established American discussion into the German context. In his second chapter, Reppenhagen begins by defining key concepts used in the discussion, including mainline, church, and Christendom, before turning, in the third chapter, to the historical context and development of American mainline Christianity. Starting with the foundation of America as a nation, and thus with separation of church and state, he examines the roots of American church structures within European forms of Christianity, continues through the growth of the churches after World War II, and concludes with their decline since the 1960s. Now in the present, Reppenhagen turns to the variety of sociological challenges confronting the American churches, such as denominationalism, privatisation and individualisation of faith, the secularisation thesis, the culture wars, the religious market thesis, and a pluralist society. Chapter 4 continues this historical work by outlining the development of the Gospel and Our Culture Network with special emphasis on Lesslie Newbigin's contribution. After a brief biographical sketch, Reppenhagen addresses key themes in Newbigin's work. The intent with this first half of the book, it seems, is to introduce the discussion to a German audience unfamiliar with the context and back story, setting the scene for the task of translating these developments into a German context. The material is more summary description than evaluation or construction. With his 130-page fifth chapter, titled Missional Church--A Paradigm Change, the tone shifts from historical development to the central theological moves made within the missional church discussion. As with the earlier material, the approach is one of identification and summary and Reppenhagen highlights such concepts as missio Dei, incarnational mission, the nature of the church as a witness to Christ and to the kingdom of God, and the church as a contrast society, along with questions of praxis and leadership. Though some of this material crosses over work done earlier, Reppenhagen displays a good acquaintance with the breadth of the discussion. Yet, insofar as this chapter accomplishes the burden of the theological work, sometimes the critical developments would benefit from further investigation and refinement. Two examples might suffice. Reppenhagen does include potential weaknesses in missional church theory and practice. His approach is balanced. The critical voices he employs, however, seem in the main to be those of missional church exponents defending themselves against such charges. …

Nieuwe kerkvorming als kwantitatieve groeistrategie

This article reflects on the thesis that new church formation (church planting) is “the most effective evangelistic strategy under heaven” (Peter Wagner). This thesis has achieved the status of doctrine among Evangelical Protestants. It has also found wide acceptance within many Dutch Protestant denominations, in particular the ones with an evangelical mind-set. It is widely believed that church planting is a major strategy for quantitative church growth, by attracting people without a Christian background (‘conversion growth’). These assumptions seem to be closely related to Religious Market Theory. Obviously, any proven strategy for quantitative church growth is highly relevant for the secular context of Western Europe. This article investigates whether these assumptions, of a strategy that originated in America, are justified with respect to the Dutch context. Research is presented, that was recently done in the Netherlands. Its results indicate that churches less than ten years old are, under certain conditions, more effective in reaching outsiders than older churches. Some explanations for this relative success are discussed. It appears that the three main factors for numerical success are: a demographically convenient location, entrepreneurial leadership in line with the ethos of the community, and a concentrated use of time, money and resources.

Spiritualiteit in een seculiere tijd

Charles Taylor’s monumental study on our ‘secular time’ comprehends promising theoretical aspects for current research on ‘new spirituality’. In the article I elaborate this with respect to Taylor’s concept of spirituality. He regards spirituality as a lived experience of fullness, that may spring off different, also non-religious sources, and that is to be characterized by a certain degree of ambivalence. In the article I give three examples how Taylor’s concept of spirituality may contribute to theoretical discussions in the sociology of religion. In the first place, the notion of functional equivalents of religion may be questioned because it conceals the differences between spiritual sources and the historical shifts in the underlying spirituality and the contexts in which it is lived. Secondly, the assumption of a stable demand of religion as part of the religious market theory seems to neglect the diversity of spiritual sources and the possibility of low spiritual or religious needs. Finally, Taylor’s concept of spirituality sheds light on the confusing opposition between religiosity and (new) spirituality.

Longitudinal Trends of Religious Groups in Deregulated Taiwan: 1990 to 2009

Religious economies theory predicts that in a deregulated religious market, well-organized religions will thrive, and loosely organized religions will struggle and decline in membership. This research (1) tests this hypothesis with representative sample data from Taiwan between 1990 and 2009; (2) contrary to religious economies theory, finds significant growth of folk religion in Taiwan; and (3) highlights the growth of religious commitment among Taiwanese Buddhism—evidenced by a decrease in the overall number of Buddhist adherents and an increase in the proportion of Buddhists who are formal converts. Additionally, neither significant growth in congregational religion nor organized, sectarian folk religion is detected in the analysis.

O "Mercado Religioso": considerações sobre as possibilidades analíticas da teoria da "economia religiosa" para a compreensão da religiosidade contemporânea

Neste artigo busca-se abordar o potencial elucidativo da chamada teoria do “Mercado Religioso”, que, em suas versões mais recentes, aparece associada à “Teoria da Escolha Racional” (T.E.R.). Num primeiro momento se explicitará alguns dos principais pressupostos que constituem essa teoria. A seguir, avaliar-se-á o potencial de tal teoria para a análise da religiosidade contemporânea. Com tal empreendimento, busca-se oferecer subsídios para a discussão sobre as feições mercadológicas assumidas por muitas das experiências religiosas da atualidade

Causes of Corruption in Religious Organizations

This first cross-country analysis of the causes of corruption in religious organizations provides evidence in support of policy recommendations by Adam Smith. He argued that clergy are best constrained by competition among religious groups. Their appointment and promotion should, however, be regulated by the state. Both factors are shown to confine corruption. In contrast, David Hume’s approach of supporting state religion and limiting entry into the religious market is not a promising strategy for mitigating religious corruption. More generally, these results suggest that the private sector may indeed be shielded from sprawling corruption as long as markets are sufficiently competitive.

Dialogue or Confrontation?

The article focuses on the relations between the state , mainstream religions and new religious movements in Estonia from the early 1990s until today. Estonia has been known as one of highly secular and religiously liberal countries. During the last twenty years Estonian religious scene has become considerably more pluralist, and there are many different religious traditions represented in Estonia. The governmental attitude toward new religious movements has been rather neutral, and the practice of multi-tier recognition of religious associations has not been introduced. As Estonia has been following neoliberal governance also in the field of religion, the idea that the religious market should regulate itself has been considered valid. Despite of the occasional conflicts between the parties in the early 1990s when the religious market was created the tensions did decrease in the following years. The article argues that one of the fundamental reasons for the liberal attitude towards different religious associations by the state and neutral coexistence of different traditions in society is that Estonian national identity does not overlap with any particular religious identity.

Crosses and Culture: State-Sponsored Religious Displays in the US and Europe

This article compares the recent jurisprudence of the U.S. Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights on the question of state-sponsored religious displays. Both tribunals insist that states have a duty of religious "neutrality," but each defines that term differently. For the Supreme Court, neutrality means that government may not proselytize, even indirectly, or appear to favor a particular church; neutrality may even mean that government must not endorse religion generally. For the ECtHR, in contrast, neutrality means only that government must avoid active religious indoctrination; the ECtHR allows government to give "preponderant visibility" to the symbols of traditionally dominant churches. The different conceptions of neutrality reflect institutional and cultural realities. Institutionally, the Supreme Court’s status as a constitutional court allows it to adopt a stricter version of neutrality than the ECtHR, which, as a supranational tribunal without formal appellate authority, must accommodate a variety of domestic church-state arrangements. Culturally, the Supreme Court’s conception of neutrality reflects what the recent sociology of religion literature refers to as the American model, which sees churches as voluntary associations that must compete in a free religious market. This model rejects government expressions of support for particular churches as inappropriate market distortions. In contrast, the ECtHR’s thinner conception of neutrality comports with the European model, which accepts culturally dominant, territorial churches as a given.

O encontro com o poder salvífico de Deus na pessoa de Jesus: aproximações hermenêuticas sobre o duplo relato de curas em Marcos

O mercado religioso, em virtude da forte demanda por curas imediatas, por meio de milagres, continua em franco desenvolvimento. Mas uma pergunta se faz necessária:será que o sagrado oferecido é realmente capaz de libertar as pessoas de seus males físicos, mentais e espirituais? Nessa perspectiva, abre-se espaço para uma fecunda análise dessefenômeno que se observa em toda parte, ao longo dos séculos, inclusive dentro da religião cristã, sobretudo em tempos de crise. O presente artigo tem como objetivo ir à fonte da experiência cristã para buscar interpretar um duplo relato de curas milagrosas protagonizadas por Jesus no Evangelho de Marcos (5.21-43). Para tanto, desenvolve-se aqui uma reflexão crítica, na perspectiva literária e hermenêutica, com o intuito de dar uma contribuição aodebate em torno do tema na perspectiva bíblico-teológica.

Selling Krishna in Ghana's religious market: proselytising strategies of the Sri Radha Govinda Temple community of Ghana

Drawing upon the metaphor of the religious market, this article presents an analysis of the proselytising strategies the Hare Krishna, a new Hindu worshipping community in Ghana, has developed in order to survive in Ghana's competitive religious economy. It demonstrates the creative ways in which the group negotiates the contours of this market, incorporating Pentecostal methods into its preaching culture, exploiting an ongoing debate between agents of African Religions and Pentecostals on the appropriate place of tradition in Ghana, and establishing its credentials as a religion whose culture is compatible with both African religions and Christianity, yet with deeper insights into the mysteries of life.

“Marketing de Guerra Santa”: da oferta e atendimento de demandas religiosas à conquista de fiéis-consumidores (Holy War’s Marketing: supply and meeting of religious demands to the conquest of the faithful-consumers)

This article presents some notes on Jesusmarketin g, strategic planning of management of religious market applied by some of contemporary Christian churches. For this purpose, the reflections from participant observation and litera ture on the subject are validated. Some of the ways these churches mediate themselves and are part of a context of spectacle and commoditization are also pointed out. The religious market has adequate to the symbolic capital and to the cultural framework of the partic ipants of the churches. Because of that it is possible to identify the ideological and economic i nvestment in the manufacturing and delivery of their strategies, discourses and produc ts. This article aims to highlight some of the ways in which neo-Pentecostal churches convey the goods they produce and the speeches that reflect them, relating them to a mass culture and a society of the spectacle. Finally, the article wants to encourage the debate on the ways these chu rches apply the marketing of Jesus in order to co-opt their members and flatten their uni ts

The Heavenly Touch Ministry in the Age of Millennial Capitalism

Neo-liberal globalization (also known as “millennial capitalism”) and the neo-Pentecostal-charismatic movement seem to be converging and spreading in the same areas of the globe. Against a backdrop of Pentecostal growth from its coalescence with indigenous shamanism in modern Korea, Presbyterian Elder and scientist Ki-Cheol Son, famous for his charismatic preaching and healing ministry, founded the Heavenly Touch Ministry (HTM) in Seoul in 2004. Unlike most Reformed Charismatics, he promotes the idea that God wants Christians to be successful, with special attention to financial prosperity. The success of HTM's doctrines stressing deliverance/healing and blessings hinges on two interrelated sets of factors: first, HTM's teachings, representing a collective aspiration within the contemporary Korean religious market, are effectively marketed by Elder Son, who has a keen perception of people's need for miracles; and second, the teachings work in idioms (such as “Name-it-and-claim-it!”) that are familiar and accessible to a wide range of shamanistic middle-class believers struggling for financial success in the new economic climate. It seems to me that these sets of factors make identical claims, stated differently. HTM is a product of neo-liberal globalization, and its followers represent the neo-Pentecostal middle class in the global village. This paper elaborates this thesis with reference to observations at HTM's deliverance meetings and newspaper interviews with Son.

Quanto uma experiência religiosa pode custar? Versões comerciais da oferta religiosa nos Países Baixos

No mercado da religião há muitos empreendedores que oferecem serviços com bases comerciais que, antes, eram oferecidos pelas principais igrejas cristãs gratuitamente. Este artigo analisa e descreve esses serviços e discute sua relação com as noções de religião em geral e coma religião cristã especialmente. Os dados foram tomados na sociedade holandesa; esse contexto é discutido na primeira seção. Os Países Baixos formam uma região de cultura plural, porém bastante secular, onde ainda muitas pessoas sentem a necessidade de buscar serviços religiosos. Combinados coma ausência de regulamentação sobre a religião, isso resulta em muitos empreendedores oferecendo seus serviços. A segunda seção é teórica e discute a natureza da religião, o papel do mercado religioso e as funções da religião e das atividades de fornecedores religiosos. Na terceira seção, discutem-se exemplos classificados em “serviços relacionados ao ciclo da vida”, “serviços relacionados às questões da vida” e “serviços relacionados à coesão social”. Torna-se claro que esses empreendedores comerciais oferecem uma forma religiosa do tipo “Nova Era” – enquanto uma experiência divina interna. Eles também preenchem muitas das funções das religiões e das igrejas. Por motivos teológicos, o autor entende que ainda há boas chances para serviços religiosos sob formas tipicamente cristãs ou orientadas para a igreja.

By Grace of Descent: A Conflict between an Īšān and Craftsmen over Donations

Groups based on the notion of a shared sacralized descent enjoyed considerable influence in religious, social or political affairs in Central Asia by grace of their actual or imagined ancestry. They were credited by titles like īšān, sayyid, hwāğa and tūra . The flexibility of multiple genealogy accounts provided ample space for negotiations of conceptions concerning identity, descent, and sacredness as well as for their affirmation or disapproval. The 19 th century saw an increase in newly emerging, self-styled religious dignitaries, but the strategies these people adopted to achieve their goals and the responses of their environment remain largely understudied, the more so if their attempts remained unsuccessful. This article explores the vain endeavour of two īšāns , father and son, to establish themselves in the religious market in the Ferghana Valley, and discusses the “making of new religious figureheads” during the tsarist and early Soviet period. Based on letters and documents from the īšāns‘ private holdings, the essay shows their efforts to present themselves as progeny of the Prophet Ayyūb – patron saint of the silk processing craftsmen – from whom they tried to levy donations, but met repeated refusal.