Effacement ou relégitimation de la religion populaire?

Lee

2011

Journal of Sociology

Census data from 2006 identified 133,800 Australians as being of ‘inadequately described religion’. This aggregated category conceals the exponential growth of innovative late-modern religious faiths. For example, leaked 2001 Census data suggests that some 71,000 Australians identified Jediism, as appropriated from the Star Wars films, as their faith. For most respondents to the Census this was no doubt an ironic late-modern play with the Census process as a response to an internet-based meme. However, evidence does suggest that a significant minority of respondents take the religion seriously. Such innovative faiths have raised the ire of some traditional religious practitioners who have responded with expressions of fear and anxiety. From a sociological perspective, this article examines the growth in innovative faiths and the backlash against them, and reports the results of a survey of university staff and students on the topic.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hyper-real religions

Lee

2011

Journal of Sociology

“…However, we have been witnessing over the last couple of decades a reversing trend in this part of the world. The Catholic Church, for example, after having attempted to denigrate aspects of popular religion within its faith, such as by eradicating some of its processions, blessings, and now exorcist activities (Voyé, 1998), is now re-evaluating its cult of saints and the Virgin and is supporting it more strongly. The Vatican has also renewed an interest in exorcism and is catering for the formation of new theological trained experts.…”

Section: The Over-policing Of the Devilmentioning

confidence: 99%

The over-policing of the devil: A sociology of exorcism

Giordan

2016

Social Compass

Discussing the social construction of the phenomenon of exorcism, this article illustrates how it is located in contemporary culture and specifically in the religious field. Following the study done by Michel de Certeau on the mass possession of the Ursulines’ convent of Loudun (France) in the 17th century, the authors differentiate between the ‘possessed’ and the ‘possessionists’, that is between those who are possessed by the devil and those who are convinced of the reality of possession. Although the authors cannot claim that there has been a growth of possessed people, they make the claim that there has been an increase of ‘possessionists’ through the over-policing of the devil: the more the over-policing of the devil is practiced, the more people are likely to become ‘possessionist’ and believe in the increase of the presence of the devil.

“…However, we are witnessing today a reverse trend in this part of the world. Voyé (1998) writes about this change within Catholicism and underlines the helpful notion of the re-legitimation of popular religion since the advent of late modernity. eradication of some of its processions, blessings and exorcist activities), is now re-evaluating its cult of saint and of the Virgin and is supporting it more strongly than during modernity, as seen in the interest that the late Pope John Paul II had in pilgrimages.…”

Section: Official Religion Reaching For the Popularmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While current trends indicate an increase in the belief in the devil (Baker, 2008;Cuneo, 2001;Rice, 2003), the Vatican, alongside other religious denominations, has also renewed an interest in exorcism and is catering for the formation of new theological trained experts (Baglio, 2009;Drozdowicz, 2013;Milner, 2000;Touag, 2012). Voyé (1998) writes about this change within Catholicism and underlines the helpful notion of the re-legitimation of popular religion since the advent of late modernity.…”

Section: Official Religion Reaching For the Popularmentioning

confidence: 99%

Popular and lived religions

2015

Current Sociology

This article discusses the sociological understanding of popular religion by first exploring the theories of Gramsci. It then critiques this approach by arguing that the social construction of popular religion in contrast to institutionalized religion is not as clear cut in our late modern, multi-faith and global world as it was in the early modern period. Indeed, through consumer culture, some institutionalized religions are now reaching for the popular. Through the use of new Internet methodologies (e.g. Ngram Viewer), the article explores the various understandings of the words popular religion, mysticism and spirituality. It discovers that the usage of these words has evolved over time and reflects wider socio-cultural changes. The article then argues that spirituality (technical or unchurched) can be sociologically understood as an outcome of two processes that intertwine within late modernity; that is the gentrification of popular religion and the democratization of mysticism. Downloaded from Current Sociology of the established religion to their own liking, bringing eclectic elements into a syncretic set of beliefs from other religions that are not officially recognized, or simply by following a previous religion in opposition to a new official one. In Parker's (1998: 205) view, '[u]nlike the [official] religion of reason characteristic of the intellectual elites and clergy, popular religion is a religion of rites and myths, of dreams and emotions, of body and the quest for this-worldly well-being'.The concept 'popular religion' is difficult to define from a social-scientific point of view (Martin, 2009) as what is meant by popular religion is context-dependent. For example, in a location where there is a sharp contrast between an urban and rural setting, the official religion is often dominant in cities whereas popular religion (e.g. syncretic aspects of Catholicism with nature religion or animism) tends to be practised more in villages and among illiterate peoples. However, this does not stop urbanites from tapping into popular religion and seeking the help of, for example, a spiritual healer who will perform alternative rituals to the ones performed within institutionalized religion. Another context is that of a colonized country in which the official religion is the one brought by the new dominant ethnic group, and popular religion is the one practised by the dominated ethnic group (see below). Although popular religion comprises a multitude of unorganized elements, often in contradiction, some theorists define popular religion not in terms of a urban/rural divide or a colonial context but specifically with regards to class divide; the upper class belonging to official religion and the lower to popular religion. These theorists, following the legacy of Gramsci, sometimes see popular religion as a form of contestation against dominant culture.This article first uses the theories of Gramsci in a western setting as a point of entry to the debate on how to theorize popular religion. It then unpacks the li...