Secularization, Rationalism, and Sectarianism Essays in Honour of Bryan R. Wilson

by Barker, Eileen; Beckford, James A.; Dobbelaere, Karel

• ISBN13: 9780198277217
• ISBN10: 0198277210
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-06-24
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

How secular is contemporary society? Are pockets of sectarianism embedded in societies of developed countries? This timely book examines the interweaving of politics and religion, and of tradition and innovation in a variety of cultural settings. Eminent scholars from four continents examine here current turmoil in religious beliefs, practices, and organization--not only in the Western world, but in South America, Africa, South Asia, New Zealand, and Japan. They scrutinize evidence of religious change, decline, and revival; investigate challenges posed by new religious movements; and locate religious change and conflict in the context of broader shifts in consciousness and culture. Contributors include Richard Fenn, Phillip E. Hammond, David Martin, Philip Rieff, Roland Robertson, and Mark Schibley. With its focus on the interplay of secularization, rationalism, and sectarianism, this work offers a fitting tribute to Bryan Wilson, who has made so many contributions to the sociological understanding of these phenomena.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. v
Contributors	p. xiii
Community, Society, Globality, and the Category of Religion	p. 1
References	p. 16
Church Involvement and Secularization: Making Sense of the European Case	p. 19
Notes	p. 31
Notes	p. 33
Introduction	p. 37
When the Sacred Returns: An Empirical Test	p. 37
Conclusion	p. 44
References	p. 45
Notes	p. 45
Some Reflections on the Parallel Decline of Religious Experience and Religious Practice	p. 47
References	p. 57
Buddhism in the Modern World: Secularization Or Protestantization?	p. 59
References	p. 78
An Africanist Revisits Magic and the Millennium	p. 81
References	p. 98
The Evangelical Expansion South of the American Border	p. 101
References	p. 123
States, Governments, and the Management of Controversial New Religious Movements	p. 125
Notes	p. 141
Notes	p. 142
Ennobled Savages: New Zealand's Manipulationist Milieu	p. 145
References	p. 162
Charisma and Explanation	p. 167
References	p. 178
Charismatization: The Social Production of 'An Ethos Propitious to the Mobilisation of Sentiments'	p. 181
References	p. 200
The Apocalyptic Theme in Religious Orders	p. 203
Notes	p. 218
References	p. 219
From Religion to Psychotherapy: Yoshimoto Ishin's Naikan Or 'Method of Inner Observation'	p. 223
References	p. 238
Worlds at War: ILlustrations of An Aesthetics in Authority; Or, Numbered Notes Towards A Trilogy, of Which the General Title Is 'Sacred Order/Social Order'©	p. 241
References	p. 264
Christ and the Media: Secularization, Rationalism, and Sectarianism in the History of British Broadcasting, 1922-1976	p. 267
References	p. 285
Crowds, Time, and the Essence of Society	p. 287
References	p. 303
Bibliography of Bryan Wilson's Works	p. 305
Index	p. 313
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