Critical transformations

Macrostructures, religion, and critique

Bibliographic Data

ID3868034
AuthorsLambert Zuidervaart (University of Toronto, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume1
Issue3
Pages243-269
Publication date2013-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Research on Religion (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2050-3032 • E-ISSN: 2050-3040
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2050303213506475
OpenAlexW2035367779
LanguageEN
References cited17

Can critical research on religion offer both an ideology critique and a critical retrieval of religious import? This article suggests that it can, offering a programmatic sketch for a full-fledged critique of religion-a critique both aimed at religion and inspired by religion in a self-critical fashion. The sketch weds elements of a robustly normative critique of Western society with insights derived from the Frankfurt School. First the article maps three societal macrostructures that organize much of contemporary social life-civil society, proprietary economy, and administrative state. Then it discusses solidarity, resourcefulness, and justice as societal principles that can sustain a critique of societal macrostructures. Next it identifies normative deficiencies within and between these macrostructures. On the basis of this architectonic critique, the article then provides an account of religion in its critical and utopian roles. It concludes by envisioning a normative and emancipatory transformation of society as a whole

Civil society · Critical theory · Economic Justice · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Ideology · Normative · Political science · Politics · Sketch · Sociology · Solidarity · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment · Religion, Society, and Development

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