Religion, Discourse and Power: A Contribution towards a Critical Sociology of Religion

Hjelm, Titus

doi:10.1177/0896920513477664

Cited by 40 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This approach focuses on how unfolding dialogue shapes the identities that people enact and invoke. Watson () posits that discourses are not straightforwardly appropriated into self‐presentations, suggesting a third intermediate step where ‘social identities’ are shaped by socially available discourses, such as religious teachings (Hjelm, ), and (re)negotiated through social interaction. Social identities are defined here as socially available ‘notions of who or what any individual might be’, as analytically distinct from self‐identity, which is ‘the individual's own notion of who and what they are’ (Watson, , p. 131).…”

Section: Religion and Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This oversight may suggest that scholars believe the topic is taboo, better left to theologians, or fear accusations of attacking religion (Chan-Serafin, Brief and George, 2013). However, dichotomies of 'religious' and 'secular' separate religious belief and practice: downplaying its prominence in many people's lives; obscuring the complexities of social practice (Turner, 2014); and ignoring its significance as a difference marker (Hjelm, 2013).…”

Section: Religion and Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Religious Social Identities in the Hybrid Self‐presentations of Sikh Businesspeople

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Ellis

Mallett

et al. 2017

British J of Management

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This paper explores the identity work practices of Thai Sikh businesspeople. The paper focuses on two important social identities in participants' self-presentations -those derived from religious (Sikh) and western business discourses -and identifies powerful tensions in their hybrid identity work. Conducting discourse analysis on identity work practices within interview settings, the authors explore how participants resolve, accommodate or reject these discursive tensions while attempting stable and coherent hybrid self-presentations. They identify several different forms of hybridity, including what they term 'equipollence', which occurs when two equally powerful, contradictory discourses are incorporated in self-presentations, producing potentially irresolvable intersections and leading to a lack of coherence. Contributions are made to the literatures on religion and work, hybrid identity work processes and social identities.

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Section: Religion and Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Religion and Identity Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Religious Social Identities in the Hybrid Self‐presentations of Sikh Businesspeople

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Ellis

Mallett

et al. 2017

British J of Management

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“…These articles can enliven current debates about the place and role of 'faith-based' organisations and, more broadly, about the role of religion in contemporary societies by calling us to look with a more discerning eye into religious motivations for civic engagement (Dinham 2009;Bretherton 2011) and the ways these motivations are shaped, modified and aligned with political contingencies and expediencies (Beckford 2012;Hjelm 2014). Pandya points out the significance of theological roots and devotional impetuses in the Krishna devotees' impressive work for the Food for Life programme in India (and elsewhere in the world, we might add) while also drawing…”

Section: Editorialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While at their inception, these movements, ISKCON in India and INC in the Philippines, raised controversies around their beliefs, practices and memberships, their eventual highprofile public service gained them social acceptability and respect. Yet this newly acquired social capital and respectability would, ironically, provide new opportunities for their leaderships to engage in mainstream politics in problematic ways: in the form of new nationalism in the case of ISKCON in India or in a triumphalist assertiveness in the case of the INC leadership in the Philippines.These articles can enliven current debates about the place and role of 'faith-based' organisations and, more broadly, about the role of religion in contemporary societies by calling us to look with a more discerning eye into religious motivations for civic engagement (Dinham 2009;Bretherton 2011) and the ways these motivations are shaped, modified and aligned with political contingencies and expediencies (Beckford 2012;Hjelm 2014). Pandya points out the significance of theological roots and devotional impetuses in the Krishna devotees' impressive work for the Food for Life programme in India (and elsewhere in the world, we might add) while also drawing…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Editorial

Shterin

DeHanas

2017

Religion, State and Society

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EDITORIALAs we identify the underlying themes of articles in this issue of Religion, State and Society, it may seem a bit peculiar to invoke the New Testament adage 'Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's'. Yet, although these contributions present quite different cases -the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) in India, Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) in the Philippines and the Russian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate (ROC MP) in Russia and China -in one way or another, they all tell the story of how religions' attempts to make a difference in their respective societies engage them in power relations that, ultimately, are regulated by the state and its agencies. These articles thus make valuable contributions to the theme of religious diversity and its management by the state, which is of paramount importance for understanding changes in contemporary religions and societies. From this perspective, issues of religious diversity are not simply about the coexistence of various religious phenomena within given societies but about the whole gamut of the ways in which people motivated by beliefs, values and affiliations work through social conventions, regulations and structures to reshape their lives and those of others. Such issues are also about the indirect and unintended effects that these efforts can yield.The first two papers, by Samta P. Pandya and Jayeel Serrano Cornelio, follow the trajectories of two religious movements that play an increasingly prominent role in public services. While motivated by their devotional callings, their members also become involved in national politics and relationships with the state that can pose questions about the integrity of their original theologies and the motives of their leaders. While at their inception, these movements, ISKCON in India and INC in the Philippines, raised controversies around their beliefs, practices and memberships, their eventual highprofile public service gained them social acceptability and respect. Yet this newly acquired social capital and respectability would, ironically, provide new opportunities for their leaderships to engage in mainstream politics in problematic ways: in the form of new nationalism in the case of ISKCON in India or in a triumphalist assertiveness in the case of the INC leadership in the Philippines.These articles can enliven current debates about the place and role of 'faith-based' organisations and, more broadly, about the role of religion in contemporary societies by calling us to look with a more discerning eye into religious motivations for civic engagement (Dinham 2009;Bretherton 2011) and the ways these motivations are shaped, modified and aligned with political contingencies and expediencies (Beckford 2012;Hjelm 2014). Pandya points out the significance of theological roots and devotional impetuses in the Krishna devotees' impressive work for the Food for Life programme in India (and elsewhere in the world, we might add) while also drawing

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“…There have been observations that mainstream sociology of religion has a pro-religion bias (Smilde and May, 2010). Finally, there have been calls for the sociology of religion to move in more critical directions (Goldstein, 2009;Williams and Josephsohn, 2013;Hjelm, 2014). We have even devoted a special issue titled ''Possibilities in the Critical Sociology of Religion'' to this topic in our first volume of Critical Research on Religion 2(1) in August 2013.…”

Section: Sociology Of Religionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How can mainstream approaches become more critical?

Goldstein

Boer

King

et al. 2015

Critical Research on Religion

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Since our launch, we have received a number of submissions that follow what we consider to be ''mainstream'' approaches in the study of religion. We think that all of these approaches have the potential to be critical, but in many cases, those who employ them do not take the additional steps necessary to make their scholarship a critical contribution. This suggests that a discussion of pathways between (to borrow Max Horkheimer's terms) traditional and critical approaches may be helpful to both readers and potential contributors. Some of the comments below reiterate and expand on our inaugural editorial.We will begin our discussion with religious studies, where to a considerable extent, critical approaches have in fact become normative. While there is much work to be done, the inherently interdisciplinary nature of religious studies makes it a useful guide to the study of religion from particular disciplinary perspectives. Our discussion will continue with theology, biblical criticism, and the relationship between the two. In the sociology of religion, which has much to learn from religious studies and biblical criticism, we would characterize mainstream approaches as those belonging to the other major paradigms including interpretive sociology, comparative-historical sociology, positivism, functionalism, social constructionism (phenomenology) or rational choice. While some of the work within some of these paradigms has been critical, too much of it has not. The fields on which we concentrate in this editorial are intended as models for a more comprehensive discussion. In this editorial, we will make suggestions as to how the scholarship in each of these fields can become

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Religion, Discourse and Power: A Contribution towards a Critical Sociology of Religion

Cited by 40 publications

References 38 publications

Religious Social Identities in the Hybrid Self‐presentations of Sikh Businesspeople

Religious Social Identities in the Hybrid Self‐presentations of Sikh Businesspeople

Editorial

How can mainstream approaches become more critical?

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