Social Compass current issue

Introduction

Laliberte, A. — 2009-09-21

Secularization Theories and the Study of Chinese Religions

Szonyi, M. — 2009-09-21

The author proposes a dialogue between recent literature on the history of Chinese popular religion and recent sociological debates about secularization theory, asking whether a better understanding of concepts, theories and evidence from one field may be productive in interpreting those of the other. The author suggests on the one hand that certain elements of secularization theory can be useful tools in understanding the modern history of religions in China and on the other that thinking about what secularization has meant in China is crucial to a comparative global history of religion and modernity. He also argues that attention to secularization both as a historical process and as a political ideology may help us to better understand the religious policies of the People’s Republic of China today.

Ritual? What Ritual? Secularization in the Study of Chinese Legal History, from Colonial Encounters to Modern Scholarship

Katz, P. R. — 2009-09-21

The author explores the reasons why scholars have overlooked the importance of judicial rituals in Chinese legal culture and considers this neglect in the light of scholarship on secularization. He explores the issue by analysing the interaction between Chinese and western judicial practices in the colonial histories of the Straits Settlements (now Malaysia and Singapore) and Hong Kong. The concept of secularization appears to be of relevance to the study of Chinese legal culture, given that secularized societies tend to become differentiated into autonomous sub-systems, religion being restricted in influence to its own sub-system. In fact, however, religion has continuously interacted with a range of other sub-systems in China, including legal ones, which indicates that, in modern Chinese legal culture, religion and the law have not evolved into separate sub-systems.

Entre desecularisation et resacralisation: Bouddhistes laics, temples et organisations philanthropiques en Chine

Laliberte, A. — 2009-09-21

L’auteur se penche sur le renouveau de la philanthropie bouddhiste en République Populaire de Chine (RPC) durant la dernière décennie, dans le but d’aborder la problématique plus vaste de l’utilité sociale de la religion aux yeux des autorités politiques et de constater dans quelle mesure les récents débats relatifs à la théorie de la sécularisation peuvent être pertinents vis-à-vis de la réalité chinoise. Un contexte de changements considérables survenus au niveau des conditions politiques, économiques et sociales, caractérisé par un désengagement de l’État dans la prestation de plusieurs services sociaux, révèle l’émergence de la philanthropie bouddhiste. L’auteur décrit quelques organisations qui offrent une assistance aux plus démunis, voire certains services relatifs aux soins de santé et à l’éducation. Cet essor de la philanthropie bouddhiste, cependant, ne peut être interprété comme annonciateur d’un processus de "resacralisation" en Chine, puisque le Parti-État communiste poursuit une politique de sécularisation manifeste.

China Challenges Secularization Theory

Dobbelaere, K. — 2009-09-21

The author proposes a reflection on challenges that the three anthropological articles in this issue present for secularization theory. The first two discuss "performances" of religion in two different Chinese cultural periods: welfare services offered by recognized religious associations in the People’s Republic of China and the judicial rituals in colonial settings. The author suggests similarities with such "performances" in western culture. The second part of the article discusses some issues raised by Szonyi in his comparison of recent social research literature on Chinese religion and sociological literature on secularization: a critique of the concept of "modernity" in relation to secularization; a reflection on the possibility of establishing a secularization theory with universal validity; how to integrate rational choice theory and secularization theory; the validity of secularization in view of individual religious sensitivity; and secularization as an ideology and a discussion of the so-called "privatization of religion" in secularized settings.

Toward a Contextualized Concept of Civil Religion

Luchau, P. — 2009-09-21

A new definition of civil religion is needed because there are almost as many definitions as there are writers on the subject. By combining two existing concepts it can be shown that most existing definitions of civil religion are related. The two concepts are religious pluralism versus monoculture and public versus private religion. The first takes into consideration that civil religion will look different in a mono-religious country than in a multi-religious country. The second makes a distinction between civil religion at a rhetorical level (e.g. speeches) and at a personal level (individual religiosity). Although there are many different definitions of civil religion, the differences can be reconciled if the religious situation and the analytical level are taken into consideration. Hopefully this will make future discussions and analyses of civil religion more comparable.

Migration et plurilinguisme: Parler en langues dans les Eglises africaines en Europe

Fancello, S. — 2009-09-21

Les enjeux liés aux pratiques langagières dans les Églises africaines implantées en Europe sont étroitement liés au type de migration en présence. Le choix des langues liturgiques s’inscrit dans des stratégies de recommunautarisation des migrants en milieu urbain ou de conversion des Européens. L’attention portée aux histoires de vie et aux parcours de conversion vise à dégager les modes d’interaction sociale qui amènent ces migrants à être confrontés à l’usage de la langue française ou anglaise, une situation porteuse de tension avec leur langue d’origine. Dans un contexte plurilingue, le "parler en langues" peut se présenter comme une solution imaginaire aux contradictions de l’unité dans la diversité.

My Body is a Testimony: Appearance, Health, and Sin in an Evangelical Weight-loss Program

Gerber, L. — 2009-09-21

Christian weight loss programs in the United States are significant sites of evangelical negotiation between cultural distinction and cultural participation. First Place, a Christian weight loss program sponsored in churches across the country, both appropriates dominant American concerns about health and fears of obesity, and reinscribes them in a cultural context that gives religious meaning to this seemingly worldly pursuit. The author, basing herself on qualitative research, examines three critical areas in which First Place distinguishes itself from its secular counterparts and renders weight loss a spiritually significant task: motivation for weight loss, the problem of physical appearance, and the question of sin. The author argues that First Place is an example of both evangelical submission to and cultivation of cultural capital and symbolic power.

Livres Recus/Books Received

2009-09-21

Bibliographie/Bibliography

2009-09-21