Globalization, Cultural Change and Religion: The Case of Pentecostalism

Abstract

The challenges faced by this paper are two folds: to understanding how cultural changes brought about by globalization can influence religions and, conversely, how religions can influence broader cultural change. Globalization has spread powerful cultural forms, such as international popular consumer culture, media culture and the culture of the individual. These cultural forms or horizons interact with and transform local cultures which are often intertwined with traditional religions. Throughout this process, traditional religion can weaken its potential to express local cultures, but can also become a vehicle used to express strategies of identity affirmation. Many modalities of globalization-compatible religion, like Pentecostalism, are also consistently penetrated by consumer culture, media culture and individualism. When they interact with traditional religion, they often function as a critical dissolving factor. Therefore, Pentecostalism and similar religions have themselves become active factors in (global) cultural change processes.

Religion and foreign-policy views: Are religious people more altruistic and/or more militant?

“…However, the second main implication of the study’s findings is that although the effects of the different religious measures on foreign-policy views are relatively stable across different specifications, how precisely religion influences one’s foreign-policy attitudes varies across the different religious concepts (belief, belonging, and behaviour) as well as religions’ social standing and country group – suggesting that religion, like culture, is very fluid (da Silva Moreira, 2014). Some of these concepts, such as religion’s minority or majority position, cannot be well modified; however, through religious priming in houses of worship or portrayal of religion in media the overall impact of religion on adherents’ cooperative and militant internationalism can be moulded.…”

Lusophony Pentecostal Churches in Berlin: Religious Identities Between Integration and Transatlantic Boundaries

“…However, with the increasing influence of the Chicago School and other researchers, the focus switched to the individuals, their experiences, and induvial transformation processes caused by migration (Park 1928 ). In this sense, the focus of this article is to identify and to reflect on the question how Brazilian Pentecostal churches can serve the three functions described by da Silva Moreira ( 2014 ). Drawing on more than 40 participant observations and four semi-structured narrative interviews, this article brings to light the actual diversity of the Brazilian Pentecostal landscape in Berlin and their functional potential.…”

“…Especially Pentecostalism is in this sense often seen as a catalyst of social and cultural changes. In this understanding, da Silva Moreira ( 2014 ) identifies a threefold function of Pentecostal churches, which will be reflected in this article against the background of the Brazilian Pentecostal churches in Berlin.…”

Pentecostalism and media in Africa: Theoretical explorations of power and agency of media platforms and their users

“…Asamoah-Gyadu (2015) demonstrates that the adoption of new media allowed African Pentecostals to have global outreach that creates the potential for disrupting denominational loyalty. Other scholars (Ihejirika, 2009;Drønen, 2013;da Silva Moreira, 2014;Marshall-Fratani, 1998;De Witte, 2011a) spotlight that digital media leads to the formation of trans-local and transnational identities as well as the redefinition of the religious landscape. These scholars emphasize that the dynamism of new media technologies has accelerated the process of globalizing Pentecostalism, which bridges the gap between the local and global Pentecostal actors.…”