Meaning and Modernity: Religion, Polity, and SelfRichard Madsen "This interesting volume of essays on contemporary religion and its ambivalent relationship to modernity not only serves as a testimony to the intellectual influence of Robert Bellah, it establishes a new school of comparative religious and social thought. This Bellahian school--at the intersection of sociological, theological, and contemporary philosophical thinking--has roots in Durkheim and Weber, borrows insights from Marx, Foucault, and Bourdieu, and finds its clearest voice in the writings of Bellah himself. The essays by some of Bellah's colleagues and former students that have been gathered in this volume address some of the most sagacious of these Bellahian themes: the religious dimension of contemporary civil societies, the relationship between religious and capitalist values, the cultural critique of modernity, and the moral visions that hold a promise of civic renewal."—Mark Juergensmeyer, author of Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (California, 2000). "This highly readable collection of original, thought-provoking essays by leading scholars provides fresh insights into the issues that Robert Bellah has addressed so fruitfully in his long career. Readers will learn much about such issues as how Calvinism contributed to political revolution, why democracies require an enlarged sense of political community, how the religious foundations of Japan and the United States differ, and what it means to be a Christian and an American."—Benton Johnson, coauthor of Vanishing Boundaries: The Religion of Protestant Baby Boomers (1994) and author of Functionalism in Modern Sociology: Understanding Talcott Parsons (1975) |
Contents
Robert N Bellah and Cultural Sociology | 1 |
Tipton | 15 |
Ann Swidler | 41 |
The Walzer Thesis Reconsidered | 78 |
Discovering Different Paths to Moral Integration in the Modern Ecumene | 105 |
A SocioTheological Critique | 124 |
John A Coleman S J | 136 |
Charles Taylor | 181 |
On Being a Christian and an American | 224 |
America and the World | 255 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
activists activities adults Alasdair MacIntyre American Ann Swidler argued axial become believe Bellah Broken Covenant bureaucrats Calvinist Catholic century Christian church citizens civic Civil Religion commitment conception congregations constitutional create cultural sociology define democracy democratic developed Durkheim Dutch Revolt economic Eisenstadt Emile Durkheim essay ethical style Europe example experience freedom global groups Howard Thurman human Ibid idea important individual institutions intellectual Japan Japanese liberal live MacIntyre marriage Max Weber ment middle class mobility modern societies moral movements organizations Parsons's percent persons political problems Protestant Protestantism radical Reformation Religion in America religious responsibility Revolution Robert Robert N Robert Wuthnow role S. N. Eisenstadt Sejm sense shared social spiritual Stanley Hauerwas strong structure symbols theory tion Tocqueville tradition understanding United University Press utopian vision volunteers Wars of Religion Wuthnow youth