Course Content: UNIT 1: Faith and Disenchantment (Tom McGlew) Tuesday 13/1/09: A profile of religious practice in contemporary Britain.
The paradox of large numbers of Britons professing belief in God and yet only infrequently - if at all - attending religious services is explored. Has the commitment of earlier generations to institutional religion been replaced in our time by a more general interest, especially among the young, in ‘spirituality?’ What prospect is there for the revival of the Britain’s established religions?
Readings:
An excellent overview of many of the issues covered in this unit may be found in Grace Davie, ‘Religion,’ in Steve Taylor et al. (Eds.) (1999), Sociology: Issues and Debates. London: Macmillan, pp. 277-96.
Grace Davie, ‘Belief without Belonging,’ Social Compass, Vol. 37 (1990), pp. 11-23 (on WebCT); for an extended version, see Grace Davie, Religion in Britain Since 1945: Belief without Belonging (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1994).
Steve Bruce (1995), Religion in Modern Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Ch. 2: ‘The Present,’ pp. 29-55.
See the PowerPoint slide file on WebCT titled ‘Statistics on Religious Practice.’ If you wish to consult the source of many of the tables adapted for this file, see any recent edition of the UK Christian Handbook, Religious Trends. (Copies of the 2005/06 volume are held in the New College Library) But be cautious: statistics relating to church membership and attendance are notoriously unreliable. Information relating to religious beliefs and practices is reported frequently in the series, British Social Attitudes, based on annual surveys of the British population (housed on the Main Library’s Reference floor).
Friday 16/1/09: Secularisation.
The process of the secularisation of culture is arguably the outstanding feature of modern social organisation. The constituents (and historical phases) of this process will be considered.
Readings:
Max Weber, ‘Science as a Vocation: Science and the Disenchantment of the World,’ in H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, From Max Weber: essays in Sociology (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982) pp. 138-156
Malcom Hamilton (1995), The Sociology of Religion. London: Routledge. See Ch. 12: ‘Religion and Rationality: Max Weber,’ pp. 136-46, for an introduction to Weber’s important statement on the effect upon religion of the rise of rationality.
Stephen J. Hunt (2002), Religion in Western Society. Basingstoke: Palgrave. See Chapter 2: ‘Secularization and the “Decline” of Religion,’ pp. 14-31. Hunt raises the question of whether secularisation has in fact triumphed over religion in the West.
Bryan Wilson (1969), Religion in Secular Society. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, esp. ‘Conclusions,’ pp. 221-33. (on WebCT)
For recent, and introductory, outlines of the debate concerning secularisation, see Either: Mark Kirby et al (1997), Sociology in Perspective. London: Heinemann Educational Publications. See Unit 18.4: ‘The secularisation debate,’ pp. 738-44; Or: Warren Kidd et al (eds.) (1998), Readings in Sociology. Oxford: Heinemann Educational Publication. See Reading 19.6: ‘An overview of the secularisation debate,’ pp. 575-81.
In her recent text, Grace Davie reviews the debate on secularization. See Grace Davie, The Sociology of Religion. London: Sage, 2007.
Steve Bruce (1995), Religion in Modern Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press. See Chapter Five: ‘The Big Picture,’ pp. 124-36, for a robust defence of the conventional secularisation thesis. In a separate book, Fundamentalism (2nd Ed), Bruce considers the emergence of fundamentalism as a reaction to global secularisation. See Ch. 5: ‘Fundamentalisms – Cases and Consequences, ‘ pp. 96-126.
Week 2 Tuesday 20/1/09: Modernity and Religion.
Religion and rationality exist in a state of tension in advanced industrial societies, and yet there is a curious resilience to religious elements in social life. In particular, some observers point to the significance of New Age movements, while others cite the importance of ‘hidden religion’ or ‘invisible religion’ in our lives. The phenomenon of ‘civil religion’ in contemporary America is highlighted.
Readings:
James A. Beckford, ‘Religion, Modernity and Post-Modernity,’ in Bryan Wilson (Ed.) (1992), Religion: Contemporary Issues. London: Bellew Publishing Company, pp. 11-23. (on WebCT)
James Beckford (1992), Religion in Advanced Industrial Society. London: Routledge.
Stephen J. Hunt (2002), Religion in Western Society. Basingstoke: Palgrave. See Chapter 12: ‘Popular Forms of Religiosity,’ pp. 194-208, for a discussion of ‘quasi-religion’ in contemporary society.
Although a bit dated, an essay by John Wolfe (1993), ‘The Religions of the Silent Majority,’ in Gerald Parsons (Ed.), The Growth of Religious Diversity: Britain from 1945, Volume I – Traditions. Milton Keynes: Open University Press, pp. 305-46 (Photocopy files) is an attempt to characterise the various expressions of religion found in modern Britain. It includes a useful discussion of ‘civil religion’ in this country, a topic developed for the USA in this week’s lectures.
A remarkable example of ‘quasi-religion’ may be observed in the cult-ish response of some to the UFO phenomenon. Read selectively amongst the cases reported in James R. Lewis (Ed.) (1995), The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds. NY: State University of New York Press.
Some observers argue that the decline of denominational religion has been paralleled by the rise of New Age movements. For a reliable discussion of New Age movements and their significance in contemporary society, see Paul Heelas (1995), New Age Movement. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, Chapter 1: ‘Manifestations,’ pp. 15-40. (Photocopy files)
See the report of a research project into changes in the nature of religious life in a contemporary British community. The authors map the shift from Christianity to ‘spirituality’ in Kendal, England. Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead (2004), The Spiritual Revolution: Why Religion is Giving Way to Spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell.
Or read selectively in Michael York (1995), The Emerging Network: a Sociology of the New Age and New Pagan Movements. Lanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield.
Friday 23/1/09: The Doomsday Cult in the modern world.
Building upon the church/sect distinction developed by Sociologists in the 19th Century, this lecture represents an examination of the origins and social dynamics of the modern cult organisation. Cases will include that of David Koresh and the Branch Davidian movement in Waco, Texas, and the more recent mass suicides in Switzerland and Quebec of members of the Order of the Solar Temple.
Readings:
For interesting and trustworthy material on the Order of the Solar Temple, and most other NRMs, visit the University of Virginia website on NRMs at: http://web.archive.org/web/20060907005952/http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/relmove/
Jean-Francois Mayer, ‘Our Terrestrial Journey is Coming to an End: the Last Voyage of the Solar Temple, in Lorne Dawson (Ed.) (2003), Cults and New Religious Movements. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 208-25.
David G. Bromley and J. Gordon Melton, Cults, Religion and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. See Ch. 11: ‘Heaven’s Gate’,’ pp. 209-28 (on WebCT).
See John R. Hall’s reliable account of the Jonestown mass suicide and/or read selectively for cases that interest you in John R. Hall et al. (Eds.) (2000), Apocalypse Observed: Religious Movements and Violence in North America, Europe and Japan. London: Routledge.
Lorne L Dawson (ed.) (2003), Cults and New Religious Movements: a Reader. Oxford: Blackwell. Look for examples that interest you.
Many different cases are discussed in Peter B. Clarke (ed.), Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements. London: Routledge, 2006. Skim for those you find interesting.
Week 3
The rise since the 1960s of the ‘New Religious Movements’ (NRMs) has attracted considerable popular and academic attention. In this lecture, attention is directed towards the appeal of NRMs to potential converts. Specifically, we ask (a) why it is that so many recruits are drawn from affluent, well-educated, suburban backgrounds, and (b) how the process of ‘conversion’ is achieved and now new entrants are reinforced in their conviction.
Readings:
Steve Bruce (1995), Religion in Modern Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Ch: 4: ‘New Religions and the New Age,’ pp. 95-124.
Lorne L. Dawson, ‘Who Joins New Religious Movements and Why: Twenty Years of Research and What Have we Learned?’ in Lorne Dawson (Ed.) (2003), Cults and New Religious Movements. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 116-30.
Stephen J. Hunt (2002), Religion in Western Society. Basingstoke: Palgrave. See Chapter 9: ‘Cults and the New Religiosity,’ pp. 142-61 for a concise account of attempts to explain the rise since 1960 of the NRMs. You might also find Ch. 10: ‘The New Religions – Issues and Controversies’ interesting.
Eileen Barker (1995), New Religious Movements: a Practical Introduction (4th Impression) London: HMSO, see ‘The Social Dynamics of the New Religious Movements,’ pp. 17-31. (Photocopy files)
Roy Wallis (2003), ‘Three Types of New Religious Movement,’ in Lorne Dawson (Ed.), Cults and New Religious Movements. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 36-58
Bryan Wilson (1982), Religion in Sociological Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Ch. 4: ‘New Religious Movements - Convergences and Contrasts,’ pp. 121-47.
For an attempt by a leading sociologist to place this phenomenon in context, see James Beckford (1985), Cult Controversies: the Societal Response to New Religious Movements. London: Tavistock, Ch. 2: ‘A new Conceptual Framework,’ pp. 69-93. (Also available in Photocopy files)
Martin Eggleton, ‘Belonging to a Cult or a New Religious Movement: Act of Freewill or Form of Mind Control,’ in Christopher Lamb and M. Darrol Bryant (Eds.) (1999), Religious Conversion. London: Cassell, pp. 263-275. (on WebCT)
Eileen Barker (1984), The Making of a Moonie. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, Chs. 7 - 9: ‘Environmental Control; Suggestibility; Susceptibility.’ (Photocopy files)
Malcom Hamilton (1995), The Sociology of Religion. London: Routledge. See Ch. 17: ‘Sects, Cults and Movements,’ pp. 193-215, includes a brief summary of the ‘brainwashing debate.’
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