The Law and Religious Market Theory

In the social scientific study of religion, the economic approach rose up in the 1980s, stirred up exciting debates in the 1990s, and championed a paradigm shift, which was spectacularly accomplished around the turn of the century. The old paradigm of secularization waned and the new paradigm of vitality and diversity waxed. In recent years, however, the social scientific study of religion in the West seems to have lost steam, as there is no longer the kind of excitement as experienced during the paradigmatic debates. On the other hand, however, the study of religion in the “Global East” is picking up steam, and the economic approach continues to expand on its preponderance of evidence. The economic approach to the social scientific study of religion is truly interdisciplinary, appealing to many sociologists, economists, political scientists, and scholars in other disciplines and fields. Meanwhile, even though it originated in the United States, its concepts and propositions cut across various cultures. Of course, like tools in any field, some adjustment is necessary when applying this set of theoretical tools to other societies. The author of this book, Jianlin Chen, is a scholar of juridical science trained both in Singapore and the United States. He adopts the economic approach, develops what he calls the Law and Religious Market Theory, and applies it to analyzing religion-state dynamics in three Chinese societies—China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. This innovative construct of theory and empirical analysis of the legal arrangements of religion in these societies demonstrates once again the explanatory power and adaptability of the economic approach to the study of religion. Chen’s theory is not one of the supply-side theories that preoccupied most American scholars, nor the political economic theories adopted in studies of Latin America or China, but is evidently grounded in the economic approach with a special focus on the law. Religion does of course involve deep emotional, ethical, and spiritual motivations and experiences. However, the economic approach accentuates the rational components of individual religious behaviors and social arrangements of religious institutions. The application of economic principles, without negating the sacred, divine, or genuine religious experiences, helps to dispel the perceived mystical shroud that obscures the social and behavioral patterns.

Chen · China · Construct (python library) · Diversity (politics) · Economics · Epistemology · Explanatory power · Political science · Politics · Positive economics · Power (physics) · Secularization · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science) · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Law · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious Freedom and Discrimination