Traditional Religion, Popular Piety, or Base Superstition? The Cause for the Beatification of Teresa Higginson

1998 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Davies
Keyword(s):  
Popular Religion ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Great Flexibility ◽  
Popular Piety ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Shared Beliefs ◽  
Religious System ◽  
The People ◽  
The Relationship

Eamon Duffy’s The Stripping of the Altars has reinvigorated the debate over the nature of late mediaeval religious practice and belief, examining the ‘richness and complexity of the religious system by which men and women structured their experiences of the world, and their hopes and aspirations within and beyond it.’ Duffy questions the assumption that there was in that period a wide gulf between ‘popular’ and ‘élite’ religion. In so doing he has not only illuminated the religious practices and beliefs of late mediaeval England but he has stimulated discussion about the relationship between ‘popular’ and ‘élite’ religion in other periods. Duffy eschews the use of the term ‘popular religion’, which he argues carries questionable assumptions about the nature of ‘non-popular’ religion and about the gap between the two. He prefers ‘traditional religion’, on the grounds that it does greater justice to ‘the shared and inherited character of the religious beliefs and practices of the people…’ ‘Traditional religion’ while being rooted in inherited and shared beliefs was, nevertheless, capable of great flexibility and variety.

Keeping the Faith in Revolutionary Mexico: Clerical and Lay Resistance to Religious Persecution, East Michoacán, 1926-1929

2002 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Butler
Keyword(s):  
Full Range ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
The State ◽  
Passive Resistance ◽  
Religious Persecution ◽  
Catholic Clergy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Church

This article analyses the character of local religious practice in the archdiocese of Michoacán during Mexico'scristerorebellion, and explores the relationship between ‘official’ and ‘popular’ religion under persecution. In particular, it shows how the Catholic clergy and laity reconstructed the religious life at parish level in an attempt to mitigate the effects of the revolutionary state's campaigns against the Church. For a variety of reasons, the significance of such passive resistance to the state, and the complexity of the interaction between the ecclesiastical elite and the Catholic laity, tend to be downplayed in many existing accounts. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many historians see cristero violence as the most important response to religious persecution, and therefore study it to the exclusion of alternative, less visible, modes of resistance. As for the Church, the hierarchy's wranglings with the regime similarly tend to overshadow the labours of priests and their parishioners under persecution. But the full range of popular experiences has also been deliberately compressed for ideological reasons. Many Catholic writers, for instance, seek to exalt the Church by describing a persecution of mythical ferocity. While Calles is likened to Herod, Nero, or Diocletian, the clergy and laity comprise a uniform Church of martyrs designate in revolt against a godless state. To achieve this instructive vision, however, a few exemplary martyrs—such as Father Pro and Anacleto González Flores—are allowed to stand for the whole mass of priests and believers, in the same way that Edmund Campion is revered as the protomartyr of the Elizabethan persecution in England. As a result, a stereotypical but politically serviceable image of a monolithic Church is perpetuated, an image which was recently institutionalised by the canonisation of 25 ‘cristero’ martyrs in May 2000.

Temporary Organizing and Institutional Change

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1819-1840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sampo Tukiainen ◽  
Nina Granqvist
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Change ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Shared Beliefs ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Northern European Country ◽  
The Status ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Temporal Boundary ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between the temporary and the permanent is a central issue in studies of temporary organizing. Recent research highlights that projects, as key forms of temporary organizations, both constitute and are constituted by their wider institutional contexts. However, there is still a lack of more detailed understanding of the actors and their activities through which projects produce and advance institutional change. To address this issue, we draw on extensive fieldwork to study the activities that constitute establishment of the Innovation University. This endeavour gained the status of a spearhead project and advanced nationwide university reform in one northern European country. Our central contribution is two-fold. We sediment a more robust approach to institutions within project literature by defining them as widely shared beliefs and practices that actors enact and (re)produce through their various activities. On this basis, we develop a model of an institutional project for regulative change and show that it is more parallel and multiplex and less sequential in nature than existing studies might convey. Our model also creates new understanding of the role of the ‘lock-ins’ shaped by projects to promote regulative change and casts light on the temporal linkages and temporal boundary objects in institutional projects. In closing, we discuss several future avenues for research in both project literature and institutional theory.

‘Everyone Should Be Like the People’: Elite and Popular Religion and the Counter Reformation

2006 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 206-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Popular Religion ◽  
Collective Unconscious ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Top Down ◽  
The People ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Ways Of Thinking ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
As If

It is now over two decades since a cluster of studies by Natalie Zemon Davis, Bob Scribner, Marc Venard, Roger Chartier, Richard Trexler, William Christian, Carlo Ginzburg and others significantly modified our ways of thinking about religion in early modern Europe and in particular about the relationship between ‘elite’ and ‘popular’ religion, or as many had conceived it, between religion as preached and religion as practised. It had been simpler when writers who thought about such things had drawn neat boundaries between elite and popular and regarded communication between them as an exclusively one-way, top-down, process. They had also tended to regard the popular aspect of the polarity as qualitatively inferior to its elite corollary, depicting it variously as instrumental, functional, un-spiritual, somatic, irrational, unreflective, mechanical, amoral, magical or superstitious, or indeed as all of these things together, as if ‘the people’, a group generally defined in class terms as the socially subordinate, exhibited a vast collective unconscious. Additionally, much ethnography had taken such a divide as axiomatic, the GermanVolkskundetradition, for example, often positing a process of transmission or ‘sinking’ of cultural forms from the elite down to the popular level. Such assumptions, which moreover uncritically reflected a notion of ‘religion’ which is restricted to a formal doctrinal corpus, defined and authenticated by the very body charged with its maintenance, were damaged by the historical revolution of the 1970s and 1980s and will not do for most scholars now, despite having informed a number of still influential historical schemata.

Food, Drink and Identity

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lugosi
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Personality Characteristics ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Cultural Contexts ◽  
The People ◽  
Social Settings ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Food And Drink ◽  
The Relationship

Identity refers to who we think (or feel) we are, but also to who others think we are. Identities are closely tied to our values, attitudes, beliefs, preferences, behaviours and personality characteristics that distinguish us from others around us. However, none of us are unique in our values, beliefs or our characteristics, and our identities often reflect those of others. Our identities are inevitably shaped by the people we interact with, the environments in which we live, and the cultures that we encounter. Therefore, to best understand how identities emerge, it is important to consider the social and cultural contexts in which people live. Eating and drinking are universal to all cultures; but, the beliefs and practices surrounding food and drink reflect the particular characteristics of cultures alongside the identities of the people who are part of those cultures. Food, drink and identity interact in multiple ways. This chapter considers these interactions in commercial hospitality and social settings. It examines the relationship between food, drink and identity from the consumption perspective, i.e. how foods and drinks influence and communicate identities in social and domestic settings; and how identities and the desire to articulate our sense of selves shape when, how and what foods and drinks we consume. The chapter also incorporates the production point of view, particularly within commercial contexts. It discusses how notions of identities are exploited through marketing and in the creation of commercial hospitality experiences. It also considers the ways staff’s identities are involved in creating food and drink related experiences.

The Supreme Being, divinities and ancestors in Igbo traditional religion: evidence from Otanchara and Otanzu

Africa ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. N. Ubah
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Autonomous Communities ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
The Past ◽  
Religious System ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Religious Systems ◽  
Opening Paragraph ◽  
Supreme Being

Opening ParagraphThe subject of Igbo traditional religion has aroused a considerable amount of interest among scholars in the past few decades. The works of early ethnographers like Talbot (1926), Meek (1937) and Basden (1938) eloquently spelt out some of its principal themes. Among these are what we may refer to as the three major pillars of Igbo traditional religion, namely the Supreme Being, divinities and ancestors.One of the problems with most of the existing studies is the tendency to generalize for the whole of Igboland on the basis of evidence which is valid for some Igbo areas only. Given the Igbo type of political system which is characterized by the existence of a very large number of autonomous communities, it is not surprising that there is a greater amount of heterogeneity in the religious system than is the case in the centralized kingdoms of pre-colonial Africa. To understand the diversity of Igbo religious beliefs and practices there is an imperative need for the study of the religious systems of specific Igbo communities.

scholarly journals The Pure and Powerful

1999 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-150
Author(s):  
Heba Raouf Ezzat
Keyword(s):  
Political Movements ◽  
Common People ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Islamic Tradition ◽  
The People ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Islamic Resurgence ◽  
The Common ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

While most of the literature on Islam over the past two decades has concentratedon the issue of Islamic resurgence, focusing mainly on the nature andworkings of political movements and militant Islamic groups, this book examinesinstead the beliefs and practices of ordinary Muslim, exploring an intricateweb of social relationships involving the 'ulama, government, Islamic institutions,Sufis, and the people Jiving in the rural and city areas of the country.The analysis demonstrates how in order to further our understanding ofMuslim society, we must gather fieldwork data on the relationship of the commonperson's Islamic practices to those of the Islamic tradition and apply therelevant analytical concepts to examine them. It further challenges the existingethnography of Muslim society which is not only based mainly on limitedempirical data but also conceals issues worthy of study and is, moreover, fullof assumptions oversimplifying the nature of the complex social relationshipsinvolved. For instance, anthropology implicitly assumes that the "native" is anaive and ignorant person who, as a corollary of this, is ignorant of his ownreligion. The consequence of this supposition has been that anthropologistswho have written on the subject have not found it necessary to examine howthe Islamic practices of the common people have been related to the Islamictradition.It was also often assumed that the Islamic knowledge of the 'ulama, and theirstatus as the learned ones, somehow separated them from the lives of the commonpeople. Only recently have researchers started studying the effect of theirfa tawa on society and people, little work having been done before on their livesand influence. This work refutes the assumption that the Islamic text is outsidesociety and that the 'ulama are an entity separate from the people.The author re-examines the view that different societies contain differentversions of Islam and points out that this type of thinking does not of itselfadvance our knowledge of the subject, nor does it offer a viable criteria for ...

De l'adhésion à un nouveau système religieux à la transformation d'un système de valeurs: étude d'une communauté rurale africaine

1972 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-91
Author(s):  
Sheila Brown
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Value Systems ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Role Conflicts ◽  
The People ◽  
The Family ◽  
Religious Systems ◽  
The Relationship

An analysis of the relationship between changes in the value system characteristic of a rural environment and the adoption of a new religious system. This article is based upon research aimed at analysing the processes by which groups adopt religious systems which are not characteristic of their local culture. The study was carried out in a village in South Africa where Christian missionaries had been present since 1820. Three problems were investigated — have traditional values been modified; have new values appeared ; have traditional values been re-interpreted through Christianity ? The study took into account five indicators — economic values, authority, ethical norms, relationship with God and religious practice. Three age groups were studied : 15 years- 25 years ; 26 years - 49 years and 50 years and over. The evidence seems to show that the people have only loosely integrated the new Christian values ; the author also notes the presence of role conflicts as a sign of opposition between two value systems. In conclusion, it would appear that the milieu studied is in a state of transition ; Christianity has not yet changed traditional morals and the preponderant role of the family, but a more individual form of ethics and a more « moral » religion is developing.

scholarly journals Ozo Title: An Indigenous Institution In Traditional Religion That Upholds Patriarchy In Igbo Land South-Eastern Nigeria

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. 4640-4652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madukasi, Francis Chuks
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Traditional Religion ◽  
Social Significance ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
African Religion ◽  
Religious Rituals ◽  
Igbo People

In Igbo land, the institution of Ozo title has underpinnings of male chauvinism and often used by men to remind those who appear to be very forward of their subordinate place in the society. Among the Igbo people, the Ozo title is an indigenous institution that is regarded as a central aspect of African indigenous religious practice through which they engage questions about the meaning for life. Through an ethnographic study conducted in recent years, I propose to explore the origin of the Ozo title and the symbolic significance of this indigenous sacred institution with specific reference to its religious, cultural, political, ethical and social significance, a method by which the indigenous communities keeps in constant religious communication with their deities and ancestors. However, I propose to not only examine the various ways in which Ozo title as a sacred institution has been used by their initiates to mediate religious beliefs and practices in African religion, but to specifically focus on its members as agents or ambassadors of different communities. Through an evaluation of significant Igbo religious practices involving Ozo title as a sacred institution performed by initiated men only which upholds patriarchy, I wish to suggest that the Ozo title as a sacred institution has two significant and related functions. The first one is that it enables the initiates to bridge the gap between the visible and unseen world of the ancestors and thus making possible an Igbo understanding of those forces that are believed to control the destinies of man. Secondly, Ozo title as a sacred institution of the Igbo is believed to uphold and sustain the Igbo religious system, and a complex of traditional religious rituals which uphold the privileges of those men who have been initiated into the ancestral cult. This paper point to particular understandings of Ozo title as integral to African religion, and proposes to illustrate this through an examination of Traditional Igbo Religion through the mediation of Ozo title as a sacred institution as part of the broader socio-sacral order.

‘The Oral Versus The Written’

Moreana ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (Number 175) (3) ◽  
pp. 14-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Cummings
Keyword(s):  
Religious Practice ◽  
Philosophical Argument ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Confessional Identity ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between scripture and tradition has always been recognised as central to the controversy between More and Tyndale in the late 1520s and early 1530s. It was already one of the key issues in the English campaign against Luther instigated in 1521, and in the 1540s became one of the lynchpins of confessional identity both among Catholic theologians at Trent and in the English reformed articles of 1553. This is often seen as a doctrinal issue, but beneath the surface it can also be seen as part of a profound philosophical argument about the authority of oral and written evidence, an argument which goes back to the origins of Jewish and Christian religious practice and which continues to haunt the ecumenical concerns of today.

Aesthetics/Ascetics

2007 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-28
Author(s):  
Jeremy Stolow
Keyword(s):  
Popular Religion ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
Religious Authority ◽  
Competing Demands ◽  
Prayer Books ◽  
American Jewish ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Jewish Intellectuals

This article focuses on the relationship of aesthetics and ascetics with regard to the publication and popular reception of Kosher By Design, a cookbook published by a major American Jewish Orthodox press, ArtScroll Publications. The article analyses the ideological, rhetorical, discursive, and iconographic modes of address embedded within this text, treating them as instances of popular religion, and also as elements of a project in and through which the Orthodox Jewish intellectuals associated with ArtScroll seek to assert new forms of religious authority, in the context of a broader culture of “kosher consumerism,” to which this text is directed. The article ends by highlighting the paradoxical character of this form of “post-scripture,” in which books like Kosher By Design, and by extension other ArtScroll texts—including their popular prayer-books—are caught between competing demands of popularity and authority, art and asceticism, and religious stringency and bourgeois living.

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