User:Sp Al Spring 2008

1. I am doing a Wikipedia project. 2. It is about the concept of religious economy and its relationship to colonialism, globalization, and consumerism. 3. [] 4. I am working alone. 5. Concept from Starks book. "Religious economy (the) marketplace of competing faiths within a society." [387] 6. The characterization of religion as a commodity or a good reinforces a world view grounded in colonial scholarship. 7. Orientalism: Cultural discourse is inherently ideological and is influenced by power structure and economy. 8. Quote: "My whole point about this system is not that it is a misrepresentation of some Oriental essence — in which I do not for a moment believe — but that it operates as representations usually do, for a purpose, according to a tendency, in a specific historical, intellectual, and even economic setting" (p. 273). 9. I will argue the idea of religious economy reinforces a perspective based in colonialism and, as such, is problematic. 10. Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978. ]]

Religious Economy and Ideology
The idea of religious economy frames religion as a product and as those who practice or identify with any particular religion as a consumer.But when the idea of belief is brought in to the equation, this definition expands, and ideology affects the “product” and who “consumes” it. When examining depictions of religious identity in a global world, it is easy to see how ideology affects religious economy.

Carl L. Bankston III refers to religions and religious groups as “…competing firms (that vie for) customers who make rational choices among available products…” (311). Using a liberal economic(see Economic liberalism) framework for analysis, Bankston is claiming that religions and religious groups’ popularity is dependent on the laws of supply and demand. As a marketplace, religious consumers are subject to things such as marketing, availability of product, resources, brand recognition, etc. But unlike some actual commodity such as a computer, these commodities speak to an individual’s beliefs. Bankston poses the idea that belief deals with ideology and extends beyond what one would typically define as a market good by stating “…belief is produced and resides in communicated thoughts, (and) the consumers of goods of faith can only become consumers by becoming producers, by participating in interactions of belief…” (322). Where belief exists, ideology plays an important role in the communication and production of a religion. In the context of religious economy, certain ideologies are reinforced and others are rejected due to the access/inaccessibility of specific religious groups. And while religious identity is diverse and often defined on an individual level, religious identity can also be over-simplified as a result of its role as a product in the information age. For example, Samuel Huntington’s work Clash of Civilizations states the following:


 * “…the fundamental source of conflict in this (post cold-war world) will not be primarily ideological or primarily economic. The great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural (i.e. religious). Nation states will remain the most powerful actors in world affairs, but the principal conflicts of global politics will occur between nations and groups of different civilizations. The clash of civilizations will dominate global politics. The fault lines between civilizations will be the battle lines of the future”(1).

He goes on to describe this conflict as a battle between the “Western/Christian” and “Islamic” civilizations. There is however, strong criticism of this theory.

Edward Said is one critic who believes that any cultural analysis is inherently ideological. He believes that cultural analysis of Islam, for example, creates fictitious categories of “West” and “East” and identifies the East as exotic, inferior, and less advanced. He states: “My whole point about this system is not that it is a misrepresentation of some Oriental essence — in which I do not for a moment believe — but that it operates as representations usually do, for a purpose, according to a tendency, in a specific historical, intellectual, and even economic setting” (p. 273). Religious economy tries to view religion as though it is a matter of products and consumers. But because it deals with individual beliefs, there is the added dimension of ideology. When ideology is applied to the idea of religious economy, many conclusions about religious identity can be drawn. Ideology can over-simplify religious identity, as Said suggests with the case of Clash of Civilizations, but, if anything, it helps us better understand how the concept of religious economy.


 * Bankston III, Carl L.,Jun 2002, Rationality, Choice and the Religious Economy, Review of Religious Research; Vol. 43,

Issue 4, p311-325, 15p


 * Bartholomew, Richard. Jan 2006,Publishing, Celebrity and the Globalization of Conservative Protestantism, Journal of Contemporary Religion;, Vol.21 Issue 1, p1-12, 13p


 * Huntington, Samuel P.,Summer 1993, The Clash of Civilizations?, in "Foreign Affairs", vol. 72, no. 3, pp. 22-49


 * Said, Edward W.,1978,Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books

Growth of religions after fall of secular states
Summary of Froese's research: "After Atheisim: An Analysis of Religious Monopolies in the Post-Communist World"

Paul Froese's research, conducted at Baylor University, examines the prevalence and dynamics of religious beliefs and monopolies post-communism in the former Soviet Union. Froese's study is of significant interest to sociologists researching religious economic theory because it observes governmental influence on religious beliefs and affiliations. Prior to the 1980s the Soviet government imposed religious restrictions on its citizens in hopes that they would come to hold the beliefs of Atheism. The government's intentions were to free its people from the psychological bondage of religion, encouraging the formation of a fully industrialized society.

The Soviet Union remained fairly intact until the 1990s, however, religious restrictions gradually loosened and the people of the Soviet Union began to abandon Atheism. Since the 1970s 100 million people living in the former Soviet Union have come to affiliate themselves with some religious group for the first time in their lives. Froese argues that the theory of religious economy is an excellent lens through which to examine the religious phenomena of the former Soviet Union, post-communism.


 * Froese, Paul, Spring 2004, After Atheism: An Analysis of Religious Monopolies in the Post-Communist World ,Sociology of Religion, Vol. 65, No. 1,, pp. 57-75