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Pre modern
God
Modern
Man
Postmodern
Earth
Starter
Why might the
stages of history
be encapsulated
by these words?
Pre-modern /Feudalism
• Monopoly of
the truth
• Singular
understanding
of the world
• Hierarchical
structure
Modernity
• Rationalization
– the
enlightenment
• Differentiation
What is postmodernism?
A perspective that refers to a
particular time period (epoch)
Pre-modern/Feudalism
Modernity
Late modernity
Postmodernity
Late or
postmodernism
Write down as many
features as you can
think of.
Late modernity –
Anthony Giddens
Late modernity - Giddens
1. Reflexivity – uncertainty – constant
monitoring of social life to try and
improve it. A tendency to undermine
the traditional
• Sociology is part of this reflexivity
How does this apply to religion?
REFLEXIVITY IN UK SOCIETY
REFLEXIVITY IN UK SOCIETY
“Most of the situations of modern social life are
manifestly incompatible with religion as a
pervasive influence upon day to day life. Religious
cosmology is supplanted by reflexively organised
knowledge, governed by empirical observation and
logical thought, and focused upon material
technology and socially applied codes. Religion and
tradition were always closely linked, and the latter it
even more thoroughly undermined than the former
by the reflexivity of modern social life that stands in
direct opposition to it.”
ANTHONY GIDDENS
Late modernity - Giddens
• Separation of
time and place
– new and
digital media
means that we
are
communicating
with people
across the world
and not face to
face
Separation of time and place
WHAT
EFFECT
MIGHT
THIS HAVE
ON
RELIGION?
Separation
of time
and place
Late modernity - Giddens
• Disembedding –
people are
affected by
things that
happen a long
way away
Disembedding – people are
affected by things that happen a
long way away
WHAT EFFECT MIGHT
THIS HAVE ON
RELIGION?
Late modernity - Giddens
Despite the apparent
incompatibility with religion,
Giddens argues that the
resurgence of religion in
some places is
understandable.
DISCUSS: Why might the following
aspects of late modernity help religion
to grow or at least survive in a late
modern world?
- Uncertainty
- Individual freedom and
choice
- The reflexivity of science
Responses to the late
modern world
Late modernity - Giddens
Fundamentalism has arisen in the
last 40 years in response to late
modernity and Giddens thinks that
this is dangerous because it a late
modern world there is much more
ethnic diversity, so people need to be
more tolerant of each other not less.
RECAP
List the key features of
a late modern society
according to Giddens
Danielle Hervieu-Leger
Cultural amnesia – change in socialization
Religion is not such a source of collective
identity like before
Individual consumerism has replaced traditional institutional religion
– we are
SPIRITUAL SHOPPERS
Personal choice
Pilgrims and converts
Believing
without
belonging
Stark and Bainbridge –
religious market theory
Religion is a market place, when one religion
declines it leaves a gap for another to fill it
Churches are like companies striving to improve
their service and attract more customers
Cycle of religious decline, revival and renewal
Religion as compensation – religion meets our needs
and also provides rewards
Competition to attract members in
Grace Davie – Believing
without belonging
•
•
•
•
Argues against the secularisation thesis
Religion has become privatised
Vicarious religion is taking place
Canadian survey (1993) 25% attended
regularly but 80% said they had religious
beliefs.
• BUT data suggests otherwise and Bruce makes
point that if they are not acting on their
beliefs, how strong are their beliefs?
PLENARY
How do late/postmodernist
views agree or refute
Marxism, functionalism?
NEXT LESSON
BRING IN COLOURS
FOR THE MAHUSIVE
MIND MAP EACH OF
YOU WILL MAKE.
TODAY
POSTMODERNISM
1. Carousel – answer the questions
2. Consider what Marxists and
feminists might think of
postmodernism
Zygmunt Bauman (1992)–
Postmodernism
Similar to Giddens and Hervieu-Leger:
• Postmodern world has arisen from
modernity
• Reflexivity has increased
• Religious revival has arisen out of
individual problems and need for
meaning
Zygmunt Bauman (1992)– Po-mo
Po-mo:
• Deconstructs claims for universal truth
• People no longer accept authority
• Freedom to be a ‘shopper’, to pursue anything
• Uncertainty is something to be embraced
• Individuals have no external rules to live their
lives
• Personal ethics and morality are the most
important not external ones
BAUMAN QUESTIONS
1. What does Bauman mean by
‘reflexivity’?
2. Give one example of how an
individual might ‘shop’ for religion
3. Why are post modern individuals
more likely to challenge authority?
James Beckford (1996)
• Bauman is contradictory – why?
• Beckford disagrees with the idea
that there has been a religious
revival because he does not think
there was a preceding massive
decline.
David Lyon – Jesus in Disneyland (2000)
David Lyon – Jesus in
Disneyland (2000)
• Quite like Giddens and
Bauman but:
• Unlike Bauman he does
not think po-mo has
supplanted modernity
• Unlike Giddens he
thinks that societies
have moved beyond
late modernity
“confessional
consumers”
David Lyon – Jesus in Disneyland
(2000)
1. New digital media – globalisation –
choice of religions, spirituality
etc…identities are less based on local
communities
2. Growing consumerism – people are free
to choose on their own what to do with
their time, their homes, their bodies and
their gods…
“bricolage of
beliefs”
David Lyon – Jesus in Disneyland
(2000)
1. Religion is not necessarily declining – it has
relocated to the sphere of consumption
2. People are less willing to accept the
authority of the church but still seek
meaning
3. Peoples identities are more fluid and open to
personal choice
4. People still need narratives for their lives but
are looking at other besides traditional ones
David Lyon – Jesus in Disneyland
(2000) THE EVIDENCE!
1. Canada:
75% don’t attend religious ceremonies
regularly but 80% still draw upon
religious beliefs and practices
Shift from religious institutions to a
“cultural resource”
David Lyon – Jesus in Disneyland
(2000) – WHY IS MY BOOK CALLED THIS?
Harvest Day Crusade in California
Several stages with Christian singers and for Lyon
this was an example of religion interacting with
the most postmodern of settings, Disneyland.
Disneyland is seen as a very postmodern place
because it is a fantasy world but many of the
signs are treated as if they are – autographs
from Mickey Mouse for example.
Religion is no longer confined to traditional places,
it is adapting
David Lyon – Jesus in Disneyland
(2000)
De-differentiation
The lines in society are becoming
blurred.
Religion and popular culture.
LYON QUESTIONS
1. What does Lyon mean by
‘bricolage of beliefs’?
2. Why did Lyon title his book,
‘Jesus in Disneyland’?
3. Does he argue that religion has
declined?
Paul Heelas – Postmodernity and new
age movements
There are many ways new age movements can
be considered postmodern:
1. Dedifferentiation – difference is not
acknowledged
2. Relativism – NAMs don’t claim that there is
one set of ideas that reveal the whole truth
3. Consumers of different NAMs
4. Experience is emphasised over achievement
Paul Heelas – Postmodernity and new
age movements
But Heelas says they are not postmodern:
-the New Age has a very strong metanarrative at
its heart. Although it rejects cultural
metanarratives it has replaced them with
experiential metanarratives.
- The New Age is part of modernity –
importance of individualism
HEELAS QUESTIONS
1. Why might some sociologists
consider NAMs postmodern?
2. Why does Heelas claim that
NAMs are not postmodern
3. What study does Heelas base his
assertions about NAMs?
PLENARY
How do late/postmodernist
views agree or refute
Marxism, functionalism?