Wednesday 11 April 2012 at 09:30 - 11:30
SOCIOLOGY OF RELIGION Makita, M.
Religious Narratives of Old Mexican Women
Despite the fact that religion is a salient aspect of Mexican culture, most sociological studies on ageing in Mexico have neglected this aspect. Most of the work that has been undertaken centres on familiar concerns with demography, welfare, and economic burden. This study, by contrast, aims to open up our understanding of lived subjectivity of such women in the context of their whole lives. Moreover, by focussing on Mexico, this study aims to extend the understanding of social/cultural gerontology beyond its main basis in the developed West. Drawing on feminist and life course perspectives, the study explores what it means to be an old woman in 21st century Mexico. The study involved a thematic narrative analysis of data generated by life-story interviews with 32 working and lower middle-class old women, with an age range of 60 to
89.The analysis shows how old age is both a social construction and a material reality embedded in the women’s cultural, historical and religious locations. Contrary to most current literature on ageing, the analysis shows how most of these old Mexican women construct ageing and old age as an overall positive experience by recourse to their religious beliefs. Regardless of the subjective character of religiosity and spirituality, these findings indicate that religious belief is present in most of the women’s daily lives and is in fact a resource for meaning-making and an important management strategy for ageing and old age.
Olusanya, O. Religion and Mass Atrocity: The Case of Rwanda
The relationship between religion and violence is complex and the precise role of religion remains unclear. On the one hand the social bonding theory suggests that high levels of participation in religious activities indicate high levels of involvement in conventional behaviours. However, research has shown that religion is also significantly positively related to crime and delinquency. For instance, religion has been linked to acts of jihadist Islamic fundamentalism (Hamm, 2010). Also at the community or societal level, both the Nazi holocaust and the Rwandan genocide provide strong support for the proposition that a relationship exists between religion and offending. For example although Rwanda is among the most Christian countries in Africa, in the 1994 genocide, church buildings became the primary killing grounds. Focusing on the Rwandan genocide, this theoretical paper aims to examine the mechanisms that mediate the relationship between religion and violence thereby filling in existing gaps in our knowledge of the relationship between religion and violence.
Kyriakakis, I. Religion and Economy in South-western Ghana: Marx and Weber Revisited
In this paper I am drawing on the findings of my fieldwork in Southwestern Ghana in order to review the old question over the relationship between economy and religion within social theory. I conducted fieldwork in a village in South-western Ghana where I found twelve active Christian denominations and five traditional healers operating among a population of 1,700 inhabitants. I am presenting in brief the key-findings of my fieldwork such as the wealth, age, gender, prestige and professional differentiation of the religious followers, as well as the key-issues of the contesting institutional doctrines. I am also referring to the key-issues of post-colonial socio-political debates in Ghana. Finally I am attempting a connection of my fieldwork findings with Marxian and Weberian interpretations of religion and economy, reaching the conclusion that only a creative combination of the two classical approaches, which goes beyond both of them, would serve as a methodological and theoretical device for studying contemporary, complex religious realities. Religion is something far more complex than a 'reflection' of economy, but it is rather impossible for religious change to have exerted such an impact on capitalism as Weber had initially thought. Both classical approaches in sociology of religion suffer from serious anachronisms and reductionism.
Prideaux, M. University of Leeds
The Role of the Churches in Traveller-Gorgio Relations Religion seems curiously lacking from studies of Traveller communities in the UK. Okley (1983) identifies a variety of ways in which the Gypsy theology differs from that of the Gorgio (non-traveller) and indicates key ritual practices which emphasise this distinction. However, she makes little mention of the way in which the churches seek to engage with Travelling communities, and their reasons for doing so. This pattern is continued through more recent studies of Travellers. Although issues of ritual and cultural practice are often discussed where they impact on education or health, studies often lack a critical engagement with religion both institutionally and theologically. From a public policy position the lack of consideration of the role of churches and other religious groups in accessing, engaging with, and supporting Travelling communities seems a curious omission. This presentation will outline
78 Aberystwyth University
ROGER STEVENS 06 University of Glasgow
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