From Civil to Political Religion: The Intersection of Culture, Religion and Politics

by Marcela Cristi

Overview

Prompted by the shattering of the bonds between religion and the political order brought about by the Enlightenment, Jean-Jacques Rousseau devised a “new” religion (civil religion) to be used by the state as a way of enforcing civic unity. Emile Durkheim, by contrast, conceived civil religion to be a spontaneous phenomenon arising from society itself — a non-coercive force expressing the self-identify or self-definition of a people. In 1967, the American sociologist Robert Bellah rediscovered the concept and applied it to American society in its Durkheimian form.

Ever since Bellah’s publication, most authors have sought to explain civil religion in terms of an alleged “spontaneous” integrative role for society. They have emphasized the religious and cultural dimension of the concept, but failed to give due consideration to its political-ideological foundations. Thus, the coercive potential of civil religion has received little attention or has been wrongly relegated to Third World countries.

Cristi provides a critique of the civil religion thesis, and identifies the most basic deficiencies of literature on this topic. By contrasting Bellah’s Durkheimian conception with Rousseau’s original formulation, the author discloses the dubious conceptual and empirical basis of the former. She demonstrates the need to rethink Bellah’s thesis in the light of a reinterpretation of Rousseau’s and Durkheim’s classical approaches, and substantiates her critique with a brief comparative survey of state-directed civil religions, and with an informative case study of civil religion in Pinochet’s Chile.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780889203686
Publisher:	Wilfrid Laurier University Press
Publication date:	08/23/2001
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.77(d)
Lexile:	1380L (what's this?)

About the Author

Marcela Cristi is an assistant professor of sociology at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Editorial Reviews

"[D]eftly summarizes and interweaves a large literature. Cristi's range and insights on numerous scholars in sociology of religion and social theory make the book...a pleasure to read."

American Journal of Sociology - David Sikkink

"Cristi's work must be complemented for bringing together the contextual basis of this debate....This volume is highly recommended for its insightful presentation of civil religion."

Journal of Church and State - Barry W. Bussey

"Cristi has contributed sharp analytical clarity and insight to what can be a thoroughly confusing sociological debate."

Toronto Journal of Theology - Gary R. Miedema

"A well-researched, detailed review of the civil religion literature and is recommended for those wishing to familiarize themselves with the subject."

The Journal of Religion - Kelly Bulkeley

Responding to the rupture between religion and the political order, 18th-century political philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau devised a "new" religion civil religion by which the state could impose civic unity. Later thinkers, most notably Emile Durkheim and Robert Bellah, tended to view civil religion as a spontaneous, noncoercive expression of popular self-identity. In this postmodern critique of the Durkheim-Bellah position, Cristi (sociology, Univ. of Waterloo) dismisses the empirical supports upon which it is based, arguing that it does not adequately address issues of power dynamics because the values that a given civil religion supports may not be those of the people but only those of the most powerful and influential. For instance, American civil religion does not necessarily reflect the values of marginal members of the society (e.g., African Americans, Aboriginal peoples, Hispanics). To support her position, Cristi provides a brief survey of nonspontaneous, state-directed civil religions, most notably in Pinochet's Chile. Her method is not new, but its application to civil religion in America and elsewhere is provocative. Recommended for academic libraries. Christopher Brennan, SUNY at Brockport Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal