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2667:10 [2015/05/10 17:52] – [Other media] Ryan Schram (admin)2667:10 [2021/06/29 02:27] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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-# The world is getting more secular. Some conservatives just haven't caught up. #+# Do all societies become secular? #
  
-## The world is getting more secular. Some conservatives just haven't caught up. ##+## Do all societies become secular? ##
  
 Ryan Schram Ryan Schram
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 ryan.schram@sydney.edu.au ryan.schram@sydney.edu.au
  
-14 May 2015+11 May 2015
  
 Available at http://anthro.rschram.org/2667/10 Available at http://anthro.rschram.org/2667/10
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 ### Readings ### ### Readings ###
 +
 +Mahmood, Saba. 2001. “Rehearsed Spontaneity and the Conventionality of Ritual: Disciplines of Şalat.” American Ethnologist 28 (4): 827–53. doi:10.1525/ae.2001.28.4.827.
  
 Deeb, Lara. 2009. “Piety Politics and the Role of a Transnational Feminist Analysis.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 15: S112–26. Deeb, Lara. 2009. “Piety Politics and the Role of a Transnational Feminist Analysis.” Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 15: S112–26.
  
-Mahmood, Saba. 2001. “Rehearsed Spontaneity and the Conventionality of Ritual: Disciplines of Şalat.” American Ethnologist 28 (4): 827–53. doi:10.1525/ae.2001.28.4.827.+## Other readings ##
  
 Harding, Susan. 1991. “Representing Fundamentalism: The Problem of the Repugnant Cultural Other.” Social Research 58 (2): 373–93. Harding, Susan. 1991. “Representing Fundamentalism: The Problem of the Repugnant Cultural Other.” Social Research 58 (2): 373–93.
  
-Brenner, Suzanne. 1996. “Reconstructing Self and Society: Javanese Muslim Women and ‘the Veil.’” American Ethnologist 23 (4): 673–97. doi:10.1525/ae.1996.23.4.02a00010. 
  
 ### Other media ### ### Other media ###
  
 Ali, Lorraine. 2010. “For American Muslims, Choosing to Wear the Veil Poses Challenges.” The New York Times, June 11. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/fashion/13veil.html. Ali, Lorraine. 2010. “For American Muslims, Choosing to Wear the Veil Poses Challenges.” The New York Times, June 11. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/fashion/13veil.html.
 +
 +Cohn, Nate. 2015. “Big Drop in Share of Americans Calling Themselves Christian.” The New York Times, May 12. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/12/upshot/big-drop-in-share-of-americans-calling-themselves-christian.html.
  
 Eltahawy, Mona. 2015. “My Unveiling Ceremony.” The New York Times, April 10. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/11/opinion/mona-eltahawy-my-unveiling-ceremony.html. Eltahawy, Mona. 2015. “My Unveiling Ceremony.” The New York Times, April 10. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/11/opinion/mona-eltahawy-my-unveiling-ceremony.html.
 +
 +Liptak, Adam. 2015. “Muslim Woman Denied Job Over Head Scarf Wins in Supreme Court.” The New York Times, June 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/us/supreme-court-rules-in-samantha-elauf-abercrombie-fitch-case.html.
  
 Perez, Michael. 2014. “Does a Women-Only Pool Mean Segregation? Not Quite.” The Islamic Monthly. March 30. http://theislamicmonthly.com/does-a-woman-only-pool-mean-segregation/. Perez, Michael. 2014. “Does a Women-Only Pool Mean Segregation? Not Quite.” The Islamic Monthly. March 30. http://theislamicmonthly.com/does-a-woman-only-pool-mean-segregation/.
  
-Scott, Joan Wallach. 2008. “Gender Equality and Islamic Headscarves.” The Immanent Frame: Secularism, Religion and the Public Sphere. http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2008/02/10/gender-equality-and-islamic-headscarves/.+Scott, Joan Wallach. 2008. “Gender Equality and Islamic Headscarves.” The Immanent Frame: Secularism, Religion and the Public Sphere, February 10. http://blogs.ssrc.org/tif/2008/02/10/gender-equality-and-islamic-headscarves/. 
 + 
 +## Questions of religion, atheism, and secularism ## 
 + 
 +In many parts of the world, religions seems to be on the decline. 
 + 
 +* In Australia, 65.3% say religion is 'not very important' or 'not at 
 +  all important' (World Values Survey 2014). 
 +* In Scandinavian countries, 60% of people say religion is unimportant (ibid.). 
 +* In some Western European countries, notably France, 40-30% of people 
 +  profess no belief in any God, spirit, or life force (Eurobarometer 2010). 
 +* In these same countries, over half do not attend any religious service. 
 + 
 +## Questions of religion, atheism, and secularism ## 
 + 
 +In other parts of the world, religious identity seems to have a new prominence.  
 + 
 +* The "Islamic Revival" in the Middle East and other Muslim-majority 
 +  countries. 
 +* The revival of Orthodox Christianity in former Soviet states. 
 +* The house church movement in China, and a general revival of 
 +  interest in religious practice. 
 +* The growth of Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa. 
 + 
 +## Religion and social change: A two-way street ## 
 + 
 +Based on Weber's ideas about religion and change, he predicted that as 
 +society became more complex, and its division of labor became more 
 +specialized and rational, religion would become restricted to certain 
 +areas of life, and many areas of life would be completely secular and 
 +indifferent to religious ideas. This has become **the secularization 
 +thesis**. 
 + 
 +A **thesis statement** is one possible answer among many to a 
 +**research question**. 
 + 
 +There are two pretty obvious problems with this thesis: 
 + 
 +* Is it based on a flawed assumption about social change.  
 +* It really doesn't look at all the relevant changes in this area, 
 +  only the decline of religious observance among some people. 
 + 
 +In short, the secularization thesis is wrong, but then again, we can 
 +see now that it was really asking the wrong question. Sociology is 
 +still recoving from this. 
 + 
 + 
 +## Secularism ## 
 + 
 +Secularism means neutrality with respect to religion, and the absence 
 +of religious influence. Specifically, one normally associates this 
 +concept with: 
 + 
 +* The separation of church and state, or official neutrality on religion. 
 +* One's religion is private matter, and does not affect other roles. 
 +* One has freedom to worship and freedom of belief. 
 +* In some cases, religious expression of any kind is banned in some 
 +  areas of life, e.g. in French public schools. French secularism is 
 +  better known as laïcité. 
 + 
 +## Why is secularism and religion so problematic? ## 
 + 
 +- France: Headscarf controversies, 1989-1994 (Jones 2009); burqa ban, 2014.  
 +- Australia: Ban of face coverings in the gallery of Federal Parliament, 2014. 
 +- US: Sultaana Freeman denied a Florida driver's license, 2002. 
 +- Turkey: Ban on headscarves in universities lifted, 2008. 
 + 
 +## Freedom of conscience ## 
 + 
 +The freedom of belief, thought, or conscience has historically had two elements in international law (Slotte 2010, ): 
 + 
 +* forum internum (internal forum) 
 +* forum externum (external forum) 
 + 
 +What is the difference? 
 + 
 +## WISH: Women in Solidarity with Hijabis ## 
 + 
 +What is this? 
 + 
 +https://www.facebook.com/pages/WISH-Women-In-Solidarity-with-Hijabis/778080655582205?sk=photos_stream 
 + 
 +Share what you know about this. What do you think? What are people doing here?  
 + 
 + 
 + 
  
 +## References ##
  
-## Key ideas for this week ##+Eurobarometer. 2010. "Special Eurobarometer 341, Wave 73.1: Biotechnology Report." http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_341_en.pdf
  
-- The Islamic Revival +Eurobarometer. 2012. "Special Eurobarometer 393, Wave EB77.4: Discrimination in the EU 2012." http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_393_en.pdf 
-- The Moral Majority +
-- Asad +
-- Mahmood +
-- Muslim feminism+
  
 +Jones, Nicky. 2009. “Beneath the Veil: Muslim Girls and Islamic Headscarves in Secular France.” Macquarie Law Journal 9: 47.
  
 +Petkoff, Peter. 2012. “Forum Internum and Forum Externum in Canon Law and Public International Law with a Particular Reference to the Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights.” Religion and Human Rights 7 (3): 183–214. doi:10.1163/18710328-12341236.
  
 +Slotte, Pamela. 2010. “The Religious and the Secular in European Human Rights Discourse.” The Finnish Yearbook of International Law 21 (1): 231–86. SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 2592380.
  
 +World Values Survey. 2014. “World Values Survey Wave 6: 2010-2014: Online Data Analysis: V.9 Important in Life, Religion.” World Values Survey Database. Accessed June 30, 2014. http://worldvaluessurvey.org/. 
  
  
2667/10.1431305538.txt.gz · Last modified: 2015/05/10 17:52 by Ryan Schram (admin)