Mothers and Moral Activists

Abstract

Many sociological studies have discussed the importance of religion and gender as two key components facilitating civic engagement, which in turn is believed to foster citizenship and democratization. Most female members of Japanese new religions engage in a variety of service-oriented volunteer initiatives where they tend to provide help and support to individuals directly, outside of organized volunteer organizations and civic associations. Such volunteer behaviour is defined in the literature as informal volunteering. In this respect, this paper addresses three main questions: 1) What aspects of religiosity relate to women’s participation in informal volunteering sponsored by Japanese religious organizations? 2) What specific volunteer models of women’s social engagement are articulated through informal volunteering and what is the dominant background neoliberal ideology? 3) How do these models foster women’s citizenship and social participation? This paper draws upon two sets of qualitative data (2010–2012 and 2015–2017) of religious-based volunteer activities performed by women belonging to four Japanese religious organizations: Risshō Kōseikai 立正佼成会, Shinnyoen 真如苑, the Roman Catholic Church in Japan (Nihon Katorikku Kyōkai 日本カトリック教会), and GLA ジーエルエー (God Light Association).

Women between Religion and Spirituality: Observing Religious Experience in Everyday Japanese Life

“…148-67;Gaitanidis 2012, p. 275). Although this study draws upon field interviews with women belonging to religious organizations, the discussion is not primarily concerned with the gendering of religiosity and spirituality-a discussion that can be found in several extant scholarly works (Hardacre 1984;Gaitanidis 2012;Komatsu 2015Komatsu , 2017Inose 2017;Kawahashi and Kobayashi 2017;Cavaliere 2018aCavaliere , 2018bCavaliere , 2019a. Still, the gender gaps in religiosity are among the most consistent findings in the social sciences (Miller and Stark 2002;Kawahashi 2006;Woodhead 2007;Baker and Whitehead 2016;Komatsu 2015Komatsu , 2017, and more women than men tend to be both religious and spiritual (McGuire 2008;Palmisano 2010; Chaves 2011; Woodhead 2011; Ammerman 2014a), which raises the question of what meaning affiliates attach to their spiritual life and vice versa.…”