Religion and its relationships with globalisation, gender, ethnicity and age

Religion Based on own questioning belief in the literal truth of sacred text. They believe there is only one true view of the world, which is revealed in a sacred text, not gained through rational arguments or Scientific enquiry

Giddens highlights that fundamentalism is a relatively new concept. He argues that the reason society has seen a growth in fundamentalism is because they are reacting against the globalised postmodern direction that the world is taking. Fundamentalists see the current trend towards liberalism and freedom of choice as undermining their religions , and as such wish to re-establish their religion at the fundamental traditional level

cosmopolitanism- a way of thinking about the world that embraces modernisation is tolerant of his views is characterised by diversity, freedom, choice, and uncertainty. It is a threat to many religions which prefer traditional closed muse, regulation and order.

Bauman highlights that, although diversity, choice and freedom in the post-modern world are potentially positive factors, they also heighten uncertainty and risk as such fundamentalism attempts to restore certainty and eliminate risk

Project identities - Are forward-looking response which embraces progression and change, Resistant identities - A defensive reaction of those who feel threatened and turned to fundamentalism

Castell’s idea of two responses to post modernism is fathered by Bruce, who suggest that fundamentalism tends To be found in monotheistic (The belief in one God) Religions As they are very And have one overriding truth. G Christianity and Islam is a religions which have pantheon of gods then to have thermal scope and I’m more accepting of change as they are too many interpretations and views

Western fundamentalism -Usually developed as a result of change occurring within their own society e.g. the Christian new right in the USA, third world fundamentalism - tends to develop as a result to outside of cultures forcing change on these Third World societies e.g Islamic revolution in Iran

Backford, they ignore hybrid communities, where cosmopolitanism And fundamentalism are not polar opposites, e.g. the use of media and technologies, They are Fixated on how globalisation affects fundamentalism and ignores the effects on general religions, Giddens doesn’t distinguish between types of fundamentalism, Extremism is not just a reaction to globalisation, but also to more localised problems

As the world globalises, national identities, mean, less, and less E.G politicians now talk about European community, or the Middle East rather than identifying individual countries. so societies around the world are experiencing a crisis of identity, whereby their culture, language, traditions and policies are becoming less. Individual national identities are being replaced by collective international identity. So as a response to this many countries use their religion to restore their individual identities, so religion act as a cultural defence away of holding onto national heritage tradition and culture and politics.

during this era Poland was under communism rule, forced upon them by Russian Soviet union. Catholicism was suppressed during this time, but still acted as a symbol of Polish national identity. The Catholic churches supported the solidarity free movement which helped to bringing down the communist rule, since this, the church has been very influential in Polish politics

In the 1950s, the Democratic government in Iran was overthrown by a pro-western regime which was supported by Western oil companies and western governments. This westernised regime was headed by the Shah Are they ran drawing the 1960s/70s the Shah’s successor attempted to force westernise values on Iran by banning the Vale and replacing the Iranian calendar with Western friendly calendar. Islamic religion was used as a focal point to rally opposition against the Regime. Their Islamic revolution helped create Islamic Republic, where clerics How to state power and Helped restore traditional Islamic value back into Iran

It is about Civilisations, which people belong to, he argued that these civilisations are linked with religion, and therefore, religious identities are becoming increasingly more central to modern world. He identified the following civilisations in the world western, Confucian (China), Japanese, Islamic, Hindu, Slovakia-orthodox, Latin America and Africa, he argues that conflict occurs when the civilisations come in conflict with civilisations with opposing ideology, This is happening more than ever because religion is becoming more and more important as a source of national identity. Also globalisation means that civilisations are more likely to be in contact with each other, which means old conflict reimagine easier in the globalised world religion creates an earth versus the mentality competition for wealth and power grows on the global Scale

Jackson says that Huntington work is an example of orientalism (Western ideology that stereotypes, eastern nations and people as Untrustworthy in theory, or fanatical others) And serves to justify exploitation and human rights abuse by the west, Casanova- Huntington ignores important religious diversity within the civilisations he identifies, horrie and chippindale - the Clash of civilisations is a glossy, misleading neoconservative ideology that portrays the whole of Islam as the enemy, in reality, only a tiny minority of the one .5 billion Muslims in the world are remotely interested in a holy war against the west, Armstrong Hostel towards the west doesn’t stand from fundamentalism Islam, but it is a reaction to the foreign policies in the western east, Inglehart and Norris religion and policies don’t cause a clash of civilisations. It is attitudes towards sexuality and gender liberalism that causes the real clash. e.g approve of political and social values in western and Muslim society, on a strong leader, western, 61%, Muslim 61%. whereas approval of political and social religions of homosexuality is 53% in western and 25% in Muslim

Davie- the threat of modernity since the enlightenment in late 18th century to traditional value leads to increase in fundamentalism. Certain and security is a response to the chaos of social change. Fundamentalism is increasing as a result of globalisation and modernity and can be seen as a Clash of culture

Globalisation has created a huge and prosperous, while educated middle-class in India many working in IT, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology . secularisation Siri predicts these will be the people who reject religion, quickest in favour of secularisation. however Nanda Says the fast majority of this class contribute to the belief in the supernatural. In fact, the centre For the study of developing societies, 2007, say that Indians are becoming more religious and urban, while educated, Indians are being more religious than rural , less educated Indians and I spending more time visiting shrines temples

Middle-class religiosity also contains an attraction to lower-class gods as they're more responsive to people's needs than traditional Hindu Gods. She rejects poverty and existential security as an explanation as well as the idea that their religiosity is a defensive reaction to modernisation and Westernisation.She argues that increasing religiosity is the result of their ambivalence about their newfounc wealth. legitimates the position of the middle-class and allows them to adjust to globalised consumer capitalism.

Nanda also examines the role of Hinduism in legitimising a triumphalist of India, nationalism. the pew Playball, attitude survey, found that 93% of Indians agreed with the statement that our people are not perfect, but our culture is superior others. Nanda that India’s success in the global market is increasingly attributed to the superiority of Hinduism values are constantly promoted by the media and politicians along with the idea that Hinduism is a sense of Indian culture and identity

In recent decades, 'East Asian tiger economies' (e.g. South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan) have industrialised and become significant players in the global economy. the success of capitalism in East Asia has led some sociologists to believe that religion has played a role similar to one Calvinism played in the development of capitalism.

Berger argues that Pentecostalism in Latin America acts as a 'functional equivalent' to Weber's Protestant ethic, it encourages the development of capitalism today in the same way as Calvinism did. • Latin American Pentecostalists embrace the work ethic and lifestyle similar to that of Calvinists. • Pentecostalism has an affinity with modern capitalism. • Berger agrees that a lifestyle like Protestants is necessary when promoting economic development and lifting people out of poverty. • However, he adds that religious ideas alone are not enough, natural resources are also needed.

a global in 2016, found the 80% of women are identifying with a Faith group compared to only 79% of men, Brierley 2005 found that 84% of women who believed in God compared to 64% of men, Modoood 1997 found that women were more likely to believe in religion was important to them than men, but men were more likely to attend more mosques

Differential socialisation - Women are taught to be more submissive and passive than men. These characteristics are associated with being more religious., Structural location - Women take part in religion Because of their social roles, men are more likely to be breadwinners (instrumental role) Women are more likely to be the housewives/work part time and raise children. This gives them more time for church related activities. If they don’t have paid jobs, they may need a role that provides a sense of personal identity and religion and fulfil this., risk- women tend to be risk averse where is men tend to be risk takers. Not going to church can be risky as it could lead to failure to enter to heaven.

Women are closer to birth and death, bringing them closer to the Ultimate questions and religion is the closest thing that can help to answer these questions. Also men see God as power and control, whereas women see God as love and forgiveness

Bruce says that women tend to be less goal orientated, more cooperative and less domineering. These attitudes fit well with religion and spiritually.

public sphere - Paid work and politics, private sphere - home, family and personal life, Bruce agrees that secularisation Is occurring, but also we are more involved in the public sphere The man they can remain within Religion through the private domain(Especially new religious movements/cults) Working-class women tend to continue to support religions which believes in an all the powerful gods, and in which they are quite passive Middle class. Women have more experience of controlling their lives and are more attracted to new age groups in which individuals can develop their own spirituality. However, brown argues that women are becoming less religious he caused the decline in female piety

Heels and Woodhead- 80% in the holistic milieu are female these movements celebrate the natural and healing giving women great sense of self-worth and status, Bruce child rearing makes women, less aggressive and globally orientated, which fits the expressive emphasis of New Age movements. New movements are authentic Rather than acting out traditional gender roles

Women hold their expressive role in family life. Woodhead argues that new age movements are attractive to women as they explore the third sphere (Individual sphere) Which is based on personal growth. New age movements bypass the role conflict and give identity based in inner self. Brown new age, self religions appear to women’s desires for autonomy. However, some women may be attracted to fundamentalism due to the certain of traditional gender roles

New age movements emphasises personal autonomy and self development which appears to middle-class women. Working class women are attracted to more passive roles such as a belief in all powerful gods or ideas such as superstition, Horoscopes or Lucky charms

Twice as many women are involved in sects Then men. Religion, market theory series like Stark and Bainbridge Argues that people may participate in sects Because they offer compensation for organismic Ethical and social deprivation. These forms of deprivation are more common in women explaining their higher levels of sects

organismic deprivation -stems from physical and mental problems. Women are more likely to suffer ill health and seek healing offered by sects, Ethical deprivation -Women tend to be more morally conservative, so they regard the world as being in moral decline and are attracted to sects Who offer and share this view, Social deprivation - sects Attract poor groups and women are more likely to be poor

it is regarded as a patriarchal form of religion, men head of house and head of church. Brusco’s Study in Columbia, the answer of Why this appears to women is that the Pentecostalism Demand ascetic Lifestyle, Resembling the personal discipline of calvinism it also insist on traditional gender division in the family where men provide for their families., These ideas combat, the widespread machoism in Latin America, where men often spend 20% of 40% of household income and alcohol tobacco, then gambling and prostitution . Pentecostal Men are pressured by the church to change their ways and Redirect income back into the family. Pentecostalism Isn’t offering westernised women’s liberation as men retain their head of the house position. However, women use their religion to improve their positions, making it popular with women.

Looked at participation and identification. He found that there was a big difference in the importance Attached to religion. Only 11% of white members of the C of E so religion as a very important in their life, compared to 71% of Caribbean members of new protestant churches and 43% of Hindus and 74% of Muslims. Minority ethnic groups Were all likely to attend places of worship more than whites

Many members of ethnic minority groups originate in societies that have high levels of religiosity such as Pakistan and the Caribbean, belonging to a minority ethnic group within a society means that religion can be an Important basis for a sense of community and solidarity. It can give members a point of contact sense of identity and introduce them to potential marriage partners., Minority groups, see religion as a way of maintaining cultural identity in terms of Traditions, E.G food, language, art and music, Socialisation can lead to strong pressure on children to maintain religious commitment (Especially among Asian groups), Religious beliefs may be a way to cope with oppression

Accepts that Ethnic minorities are more religious than whites in modern society, but believes that religious city is more of an expression of community than religious commitment

cultural defence- using religion to protect identities in a hostile environment cultural Transition- religion is used to cope with upheaval or migration, Bruce believes that overtime, the secular nature of British society will erode The importance of religion for ethnic minorities. Modood Supports this as he found that younger, Chinese white and Afro Caribbean people were considerably less religious than their Parent. Their parent were considerably less religious than their parents. He found that in some groups, there was no decline between generation, particularly Muslims.

according to 2011 UK census Young people are much more likely to report they have no religion, people under 25 made up 30% of the religion population as a whole, but only 39% of those reporting they had no religion, Those aged, 65+ made up 16.5% of the population as a whole, but just 5.6 of those reported they had no religion, Brierley by 2025,15 to 19-year-olds will make up 2.5% of churchgoers half of English church will have one under 20 attending.

Bruce argues that one cause is the decline in Religious education, although there was a small revival of Faith schools in the 1990s, and 2000s. There has been a huge decline in Sunday schools. he even predicted that Sunday schools might be distinct by 2016 But he was wrong about this

Due to their proximity to death. It seems natural to assume that as people get older and closer to death, they become more interested in what happens after they die, which is something religions have answers to it may be that people become more religious, Closer to death because they find the thought of afterlife, more comforting than the thought of themselves, just turning into dust