Consuming Religion Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture

by Miller, Vincent J.

• ISBN13: 9780826417497
• ISBN10: 0826417493
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-18
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

Contemporary theology, argues Miller, is silent on what is unquestionably one of the most important cultural issues it faces: consumerism or 'consumer culture'. While there is no shortage of expressions of concern about the corrosive effects of consumerism from the standpoint of economic justice or environmental ethics, there is a surprising paucity of theoretically sophisticated works on the topic. Miller argues that consumerism is not just about behavioural 'excesses', rather, it is a pervasive worldview that affects our construction as persons - what motivates us, how we relate to others, to culture, and to religion. 'Consuming Religion' surveys almost a century of scholarly literature on consumerism and the commodification of culture and charts the ways in which religious belief and practice have been tranformed by the dominant consumer culture of the West. It demonstrates the significance of this seismic cultural shift for theological method, doctrine, belief, community, and theological anthropology. Like more popular texts, the book takes a critical stand against the deleterious effects of consumerism. However, its analytical complexity provides the basis for developing more sophisticated tactics for addressing these problems.

Author Biography

Vincent Jude Miller is Associate Professor of Theology at Georgetown University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	1	(14)
How to Think about Consumer Culture	15	(17)
It's about More than Values	15	(5)
Culture and Belief	20	(3)
Religion and Culture	23	(3)
A Working Model of Culture	26	(4)
Conclusion	30	(2)
The Commodification of Culture	32	(41)
Commodification	33	(6)
Twentieth-Century Capitalism	39	(15)
The Commodification of Culture	54	(12)
Post-Fordism	66	(5)
Conclusion	71	(2)
Consumer Religion	73	(34)
Gregorian Chant, Herman Melville's Nephew, and the Marquis de Sade	74	(3)
The Dual Dynamisms of Commodification in Religion	77	(7)
The Consumer Self and Religious Traditions	84	(10)
Religious Leaders and the Media	94	(9)
Style and Reception	103	(2)
Conclusion	105	(2)
Desire and the Kingdom of God	107	(39)
The Origins of Consumer Desire	111	(5)
The Nature of Consumer Desire	116	(10)
Consumer and Religious Desires	126	(18)
Conclusion	144	(2)
The Politics of Consumption	146	(18)
The Seriousness of Conspicuous Consumption	148	(2)
Pierre Bourdieu and Distinction	150	(3)
The Agency of Consumers	153	(9)
Conclusion	162	(2)
Popular Religion in Consumer Culture	164	(15)
Theology and Popular Religion	165	(2)
Robert Orsi and Devotion to St. Jude	167	(4)
``Lived'' Religion and Theology	171	(3)
Tradition and Bricolage	174	(2)
Conclusion	176	(3)
Stewarding Religious Traditions in Consumer Culture	179	(46)
Countering Commodification in General	182	(10)
Countering the Commodification of Culture	192	(2)
Countering the Commodification of Religion	194	(29)
Conclusion	223	(2)
Conclusion	225	(4)
Notes	229	(22)
Index	251