La théorie bergérienne de la certitude religieuse à l’épreuve de la théorie du choix rationnel

2013 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac Nizigama
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Theoretical Method ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Theory Of Religion ◽  
Political Management ◽  
Death Knell

Berger’s sociological theory of religion underlined the role of modern religious pluralism in undermining taken for granted religious certainties. The pluralization of expressions and of religious beliefs would lead to a challenge directed not only at the political management of religions but also at the sustainability of the religious content as such. The latter would weaken as the pluralism increased. In contrast, the economic school of the scientific study of religion, exploiting Rational Choice Theory (RCT), demonstrates that the development of the modern religious pluralism, far from sounding the death knell of religion’s strength, constitutes rather its mold, which would have been lacking in a situation of religious monopoly. This article goes into the detail of this school’s arguments with a critical aim regarding Berger’s point of view. It resorts to an abstract and theoretical method.

scholarly journals SOCIOLOGIA DO CRESCIMENTO PENTECOSTAL NO BRASIL: UM BALANÇO

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (119) ◽  
pp. 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Mariano
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Structural Transformations ◽  
Rural Migrants ◽  
Its Analysis ◽  
Theory Of Religion

O artigo apresenta um balanço sumário da teoria sociológica sobre a expansão pentecostal no Brasil. Analisa as obras mais importantes que a conformaram, sua perspectiva modernizadora e destaca as críticas que recebeu. Procura mostrar que essa teoria responsabilizou prioritariamente as transformações estruturais da sociedade pelas mudanças nas escolhas religiosas de parte dos migrantes rurais e dos estratos mais pobres da população. Por fim, apresenta a perspectiva da teoria da escolha racional da religião, que, em contraste, foca sua análise na oferta religiosa.ABSTRACT: The article presents a summary balance of sociological theory about the Pentecostal expansion in Brazil. It analyses the most important works that led to the birth of Pentecostalism, its modernizing perspective and the criticism it has received. The article seeks to show that this theory blamed primarily the structural transformations of society through changes in religious choices by rural migrants and the poorest strata of the population. Finally, the article presents the perspective of the rational choice theory of religion, which, in contrast, focuses its analysis on the religious offering.

Randall Collins on status groups and statuses

Thesis Eleven ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 154 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-37
Author(s):  
Barry Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Erving Goffman ◽  
Harold Garfinkel ◽  
Fundamental Understanding

This paper focuses on what could be learned about statuses and status groups from the work of Randall Collins in the 1980s, and in particular from Weberian Sociological Theory (1986). I mention how I myself found this book useful at that time to further my own work in the sociology of science and in sociological theory, and emphasise its value in appreciating the fundamental and irremediable deficiencies of individualistic rational choice theory in both contexts. I go on to note how Collins, a ‘macro’ sociologist in the 1980s, was nonetheless well aware of the indispensable role of micro-sociology in advancing the fundamental understanding of the field as a whole, and his singling out of Erving Goffman and Harold Garfinkel as primus inter pares for their special theoretical importance at this time. I say a little about why these two did indeed have much to contribute to an understanding of statuses and of status groups and still do even today, and end by noting how effectively Collins has used and built upon the work of Goffman in particular since the 1980s.

The Building and Breaking of Peace

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly M. Melin
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Culture ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Bargaining Process ◽  
Peace And Conflict ◽  
Government Capacity ◽  
And Shifts ◽  
Corporate Actions ◽  
The Cost

The Building and Breaking of Peace considers the role of corporate firms in building peaceful societies. Examining the corporate motives for peacebuilding and then the implications of these activities for preventing violence and conflict resolution creates a holistic picture of the peace and conflict process. The book examines variation in corporate engagement as a product of corporate culture and shifts in government capacity, as well as threats to the ability to conduct business. Corporations engage in peacebuilding when there is a gap in the state’s capacity to enforce laws creating the demand for engagement but when there is stability that enables firms to supply peacebuilding. The book then considers the implications of corporate engagement for preventing and ending violence. Building on the rational choice theory of civil war and drawing from business research, The Building and Breaking of Peace examines the role of corporate firms in building peaceful societies. While firms are uniquely situated in their ability to raise the cost of violence, an active private sector acts as an additional veto player in the bargaining process, making it significantly harder to reach an agreement. The findings suggest that corporations help to prevent violence but not resolve it. These arguments are tested on original cross-national data of peacebuilding efforts by firms in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa from 2000 to 2018 and in-depth case analyses of corporate actions and outcomes in Colombia, Northern Ireland, and Tunisia.

Comparative Administrative Law and Economics

2020 ◽  
pp. 216-231
Author(s):  
Nuno Garoupa ◽  
Sofia Amaral-Garcia
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Administrative Law ◽  
Governance Indicators ◽  
Specialized Courts ◽  
Normative Dimension ◽  
State Liability

This chapter provides a rational choice theory to explain why features of administrative law vary across jurisdictions. It relates these varying features of administrative law to economic performance (as measured by macroeconomic variables or more specific variables such as rule of law, judicial effectiveness, governance indicators, or quality of legal institutions). The chapter also reveals a normative dimension related to the inevitable question of which arrangements or institutions produce better results. To that end, it reviews the current economic models of administrative adjudication. The chapter next takes a look at some more specific topics: specialized agencies, specialized courts, and state liability. Finally, it looks at the role of the interaction between administrative and constitutional law as well as rule-making and other types of executive policy-making.

Emotions

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Elster
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Science Inquiry ◽  
Information Gathering ◽  
Belief Formation ◽  
Theory Of Action ◽  
Actor Model ◽  
Rational Actor ◽  
The Impact

This article explores the role of emotions in the explanation of behavior. It first provides an overview of complexities associated with the term ‘emotion’ before discussing the link between emotions and rationality. In particular, it considers the rational choice theory of action and the notion of emotional choice, along with the impact of emotion on substantive preferences, formal preferences, beliefs and belief formation, and information-gathering. The article argues that emotions governing action should not be deemed inaccessible to analytic social-science inquiry. Even if emotions trigger actions and reactions discontinuous with prior action streams, emotions do not make the rational-actor model fail. Emotions can determine belief and urgency-based emotions can determine outcomes.

The Decision to Vote or to Abstain

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Gidengil
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Voter Turnout ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Model ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Civic Duty ◽  
Parsimonious Model

Why voters turn out on Election Day has eluded a straightforward explanation. Rational choice theorists have proposed a parsimonious model, but its logical implication is that hardly anyone would vote since their one vote is unlikely to determine the election outcome. Attempts to save the rational choice model incorporate factors like the expressive benefits of voting, yet these modifications seem to be at odds with core assumptions of rational choice theory. Still, some people do weigh the expected costs and benefits of voting and take account of the closeness of the election when deciding whether or not to vote. Many more, though, vote out of a sense of civic duty. In contrast to the calculus of voting model, the civic voluntarism model focuses on the role of resources, political engagement, and to a lesser extent, recruitment in encouraging people to vote. It pays particular attention to the sources of these factors and traces complex paths among them. There are many other theories of why people vote in elections. Intergenerational transmission and education play central roles in the civic voluntarism models. Studies that link official voting records with census data provide persuasive evidence of the influence of parental turnout. Education is one of the best individual-level predictors of voter turnout, but critics charge that it is simply a proxy for pre-adult experiences within the home. Studies using equally sophisticated designs that mimic the logic of controlled experiments have reached contradictory conclusions about the association between education and turnout. Some of the most innovative work on voter turnout is exploring the role of genetic influences and personality traits, both of which have an element of heritability. This work is in its infancy, but it is likely that many genes shape the predisposition to vote and that they interact in complex ways with environmental influences. Few clear patterns have emerged in the association between personality and turnout. Finally, scholars are beginning to recognize the importance of exploring the connection between health and turnout.

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