Week 2: Religion Michaelmas 2019 Dr Anna Krausova Introduction - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Political Sociology Week 2: Religion Michaelmas 2019 Dr Anna Krausova

Introduction  Political Sociology  Various ways to approach the intersection between political science and sociology  The study of religion an excellent example  Some housekeeping  Lecture slides: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sant3223/  Ask questions: anna.krausova@sociology.ox.ac.uk

Sociological theory: Durkheim’s functionalism  Sacred v. profane (Religious Life (1912[1995])  All societies founded on distinction between sacred & profane  Whether what is sacred is a God, or an object, or a ritual, or freedom of speech “A society is to its members what a god is to its faithful… Precisely because society has its own specific nature that is different from our nature as individuals it pursues ends that are also specifically its own; but because it can achieve those ends only by working through us, it categorically demands our cooperation. Society requires us to make ourselves its servants, forgetful of our own interests.” (Religious Life, pp.208-9)  “social facts” • External to the individual; social norms, values and institutions  But , unclear how these “social facts” emerge, operate, reproduce themselves, and particularly change

Sociological Theory: Marx’s materialism “Man makes religion, religion does not make man…. The wretchedness of religion is at once an expression of and a protest against real wretchedness. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of the heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people” (Marx, 1844 [1970], p.131)  Masks ‘true reality’  false consciousness and alienation  yet understanding religion crucial for understanding social conditions from which it emerges  historical materialism  But, what about examples such as liberation theology in Latin America or Protestant reformation in Western Europe?

Sociological Theory: Weber’s interpretivism  Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905) One of the fundamental elements of the spirit of modern capitalism, and not only of that but of all modern culture: rational conduct on the basis of the idea of the calling, was born — that is what this discussion has sought to demonstrate — from the spirit of Christian asceticism. ” (Weber, 1905[2010]: 122-3)  Protestant religious doctrine generates certain values (accumulation of wealth as a calling, an end in its own right, to prove ‘predestination’)  Individuals with values adopt certain kind of economic behaviour  helps bring about capitalist economy  However, causality/endogeneity problem:  Do values impact the economy (Weber), or does the economy influence values? (Marx)  Changes in economy could have favoured one particular religious group

Politicisation of religion “A person’s religious identity inevitably shapes his or her values and political positions. The relationship between religion and parties arises from a centuries-old interplay of these two forces.” (Dalton, Citizen Politics, 2014)  Long history of religious wars (e.g. early Muslim conquests, Christian Crusades, Protestant-Catholic wars of religion)  Development of ideologies, political institutions and political competition shaped by religion “Decreasingly able to mobilize support and form coalitions on the basis of ideology, governments and groups will increasingly attempt to mobilize support by appealing to common religion and civilization identity.” (Huntington, Clash of Civilizations, 1993)

Definition of religion? “system of beliefs and practices based on belief in, or acknowledgement of, some superhuman power or powers” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2009)  Problems with defining religion:  What beliefs are religious? Is belief necessary?  Not all religions have a God or Gods  Core beliefs can differ between elite and members  People can be considered members of a religion irrespective of belief (e.g. Jews, Catholics) & vice versa (e.g. Church of England)  If belonging to a group is necessary, how active do you have to be?  Various indicators used:  Self-identification.  Attendance (also marriages, christenings, etc.)  Beliefs

Modernisation/Secularisation Three dimensions (Dobbelare, 1981)  Level of society and institutions  Within religious institutions  Individual level association with religious institutions  Linked to modernisation in three ways.  Social differentiation: especially adoption of health and education by the state  Societalization: reduction in the importance of community relative to the wider society  Rationalization: reduces need for coordination and ordering by values (Bell, 1976)  Globally, Norris and Inglehart (2004) argue that religiosity is strongest where economic and physical security are weakest

Norris & Inglehart (2004)

Crouch (1990)

England & Wales Census (ONS, 2001/2011) Question: What is your religion?

Critics of secularisation  Globally religion  Primarily Western Europe where   Even within W Europe, measures of secularization (identification, church attendances, religious marriages, etc.) disputed  Changing practice not general decline of religion? (e.g. Martin, 1978)  e.g. religious TV and radio, New Age spirituality and ‘believing without belonging’  Still, any increases in above too small to compensate for decline in traditional religious  Plurality of religions and free competition can explain high religiosity in the US  Norris and Inglehart (2004):  US has low levels of security due to limited welfare state, and it is just one case  Eastern Europe where religion  after 1989 – increasing inequality  Still, Gorski and Altinordu (2008) criticise Norris and Inglehart (2004)  using ‘existential security’ to mean basic physical needs in non -Western countries but higher-order psychological needs (predictability, protection against risk) in US  making a temporal argument based on cross-sectional data

Church versus State  Most European states originally legitimated by religion  to maintain power, the church allied with political elite to resist moves towards democratization  France:  Since the revolution, state strongly anti-clerical, most notably in the education policy  E.g. battle over headscarves in schools (although more complex)  England  Early victory of state over church (C16th)  Church remains established but politically weak  US, Ireland, Greece and Poland  Separation of (majority) church from state has allowed religion to flourish  It is the association with political elite, rather than religion, that lead to rejection of the church (Martin, 1978)

Empirical example: Religion in Eastern Europe  Muller and Neundorf (Soc Forces, 2012)  Cold War cohorts less religious than predecessors in Central Eastern Europe  Bigger drops with more communist repression of religion  But, post Cold War religious recovery in East, despite secularisation in W Europe  Post Cold War cohorts most religious in East, but least in W Europe  Religiosity  with GDP in CE Europe, but  with GDP in W Europe  Religiosity moves with religious legislation, but in different directions in East and West

Muller & Neundorf (2012)

Empirical example: Religion in Eastern Europe  Muller and Neundorf (Soc Forces, 2012)  Evidence for secularization  Berger’s theory of plausibility [legitimacy] structures  Norris and Inglehart’s existential security hypothesis  Role of the state “ Not only did we find that the state played a crucial role in the disestablishment of religion in Eastern Europe. It also is one of the driving forces of its re-establishment after 1990.” Muller and Neundorf , 2012, p.577)  However, could also be other way round: state follows changing public opinion?  Not entirely clear whether evidence for modernisation theory as opposed to revival arguments (Northmore-Bell & Evans, 2016)

Empirical example: Religion in Eastern Europe What evidence would we look for to evaluate secularisation as opposed to the revival argument?  Secularisation/Modernisation  ?  Revival  ?

Empirical example: Religion in Eastern Europe What evidence would we look for to evaluate secularisation as opposed to revival argument?  Secularisation/Modernisation  Socio-economic predictors, with higher (and/or less decreasing religiosity) among less wealthy/economically secure residents  Correlation between GDP and religiosity  Economic crises may trigger increase in religiosity  New adherents from socio-economically vulnerable sections (Norris & Inglehart, 2004)  Revival  Opposite to above, socio-economic variables should lose predictive power  E.g. growing support for Orthodox church in Russia among urban professionals and wealthy oligarchs (Evans & Northmore-Ball, 2012)  Linked to nationalism and national revival