topic 2- religion and social change

Weber

E: religion was the beginning of modern capitalism → Calvinists belief in predestination led to salvation panic → people turned to work to cope and saw profit as a sign of Gods favour

R: ascetic lifestyle meant they focused solely on accumulation of wealth

C: Tawney- technological changes are what led to capitalism

neomarxists

E: Bloch- principle of hope → religion provides images of a ‘utopia’ which helps people see a vision for a better world

R: Maduro- liberation theology where catholic priests in Latin America dedicated themselves to helping and supporting the poor and raising awareness

C: Levine- liberation theology has been manipulated to justify authoritarian regimes undermining it as a force for social change

Bruce

E: religion was an ideological resource in the CRM → churches mobilised support and created respect for the movement

R: NCR has tried to use religion to create change by going back to the fundamentals of the bible → unsuccessful as it contradicts the mostly liberal values of American society

C: Morris- CRM relied heavily on secular networks like grassroots activists groups

millenarian movements

E: Worsley- these movements offer immediate improvement to the world through supernatural means → appeal to the poor and often arise in colonial situations

R: cargo cults in the West Pacific → islanders felt deprived when cargo came for the colonialists which they felt was a gift from God for them → led to widespread unrest

C: Hobsbawm- views these revolts as irrational and violent 

dual character

E: Engels- religion maintains class system and can also cause social change

R: Gramsci- religion helps ruling class maintain their domination → clergy can act as organic intellectuals and educate the w/c to see the unfairness of their situation

C: Althusser- over emphasises impact of ideology and under estimates the impact of economic and structural constraints