Religious Transformations and Socio-Political Change

Description

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems- both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series. Preface Introduction Historical models Gods’ statues as a tool of Assyrian political policy: Esarhaddon’s return of Marduk to Babylon Religious projection: A Hellenistic instance Mani versus Mazdak: The prophet and his king in pre-Islamic Iran Religious transformations and socio-political change: A western eurocentric paradigm? Eastern Europe The intelligentsia between secular and religious culture Personal spiritual orientations and religiousness in (former) Soviet society John Paul II and Mikhail Gorbachev: The process of globalization in multidimensional comparison The analogy of the proportionalitas: The coherence between sociopolitical development and the development of religion in the new socio-cultural reality of Czechoslovakia National history, culture and the process of religious change Religion and revolution: A Hungarian pilgrimage in Rumania Muslim fundamentalism in Soviet Central Asia: A social perspective The Muslims of Poland: A religious minority in transition Delusion and illusion, false hopes and failed dreams: Religion, the churches and East Germany’s 1989 “November revolution” Theology of liberation and the Protestant monastery of Loccum in Germany Opposition within affinity between religion and politics with reference to Golden Age Denmark and Brazil Latin America Religious transformations and social change in Latin America In the beginning there were the Canaries ...: The forgotten purgatory en route to the new world Missionary activity in Latin America: Confession manuals and indigenous eroticism Iconography, inter subjectivity, and anthropological experience: A Toba shamanic tree Political culture, religious culture and sacrifice Theoretical and methodological implications Theories on tradition and change in sociology, anthropology, history, and the history of religions Method, theory, and the subject matter What sort of “reality” is religion? The symbolics of power discourse among contemporary religious groups in West Africa Religious studies as a saving grace? From Goodenough to South Africa Conclusion Methodological conceits and theoretical opportunities: Reflections on the level of analysis appropriate for explaining socio- cultural phenomena List of contributors Index