The Role of Religious Ideas

Christian Interpretations of Social Inequalities

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2370199
AutoresFerdinand Sutterlüty (Goethe University, Germany, autor de correspondencia)
Año2016
Volumen42
Número1
Páginas33-48
Fecha de publicación2016-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaCritical Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0896-9205 • E-ISSN: 1569-1632
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0896920513509823
OpenAlexW2021978185
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas48

According to Henri Desroche (1961), one could write an entire history of religion as 'the mother of social resignation' or, with equal justification, as 'the mother of social protest'. Desroche's apt observation summarizes the topic of this essay, which deals with the oppositional and the culturally adapted communities and movements in the recent history of the Christian churches, focusing particularly on their relationship with social inequalities. Taking a perspective strongly influenced by Max Weber's sociology of religion, it discusses the 'religious ideas' that have guided, and continue to guide, the actions of various Christian churches and groups in societies marked by social inequality. Theoretically, this essay argues that the social positioning of church groups and movements is heavily dependent on the cognitive content of religious beliefs. The contrasting cases it cites show the fruitfulness of such an analytical approach

CITES · Epistemology · Inequality · Social group · Social science · Sociology · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development