Religion and Marriage in

the Era of Globalization

R.Santhosh
Dept. of Humanities and Social
Sciences
IIT Madras

The centrality of Globalization

framework
Globalization as taking place in
the context of high/late
modernity or postmodernity

The cultural context of Globalization

is highly critical
Clash of Civilization Thesis
Arguments about cultural
homogenization
Differentiation
Cultural Hybridization

Religion and Modernity

Secularization theory
The age of Reason
Disenchantment with religion (Max
Weber)
Modernization theory

Secularization thesis
1)Secularization as a differentiation of
the secular sphere from religious
institutions and norms.
2) as a decline of religious beliefs and
practices,
3) marginalization of religion into
private sphere

 Resurgence of religion in the 1980s

and the failure of secularization
thesis
New Religious Movements (NRMs)
9/11 and increased interest in the
religious question.
Post-secular society

The Idea of late Modernity

Bell's notion of post-industrialism
Bauman's account of Fordist
production-based economies
becoming postmodern and
consumption-focused,
emergence of self-consciously
fluid identities since the 1960's by
new social movements,
The crisis of rationality and reason

 the development of "the network society

and the emergence of "risk" as a defining
characteristic of life under conditions of
"reflexive modernization.
In terms of political developments and
milestones, the growing hegemony of
neoliberalism in the 1980's,
the fall of the Berlin Wall in November
1989 as an indication of a unipolar world

Impact of globalization in late

modernity
Increased sense of global
connectedness
Deluge of ideas, images and
information from across the globe
Process of glocalization
redefining the notions of locality and
community as it can be across the
time and space.

 Heightened process of individuation

Emergence of a highly mobile
cosmopolitan global citizen without
specific attachment to
ethnic/religious affiliation
Consumption as a critical category to
provide sense of identity,
belongingness and community

At the same time,

Ontological insecurity and

existential anxiety at the
individual level: ontological
security is a security of being, a
sense of confidence and trust that
the world is what it appears to be.

 also the age (...) of the lust [and]

search for community, invention of
community, imagining community,
spurred by a perceived lack of shared
meaning and group solidarity
( Zygmunt Bauman).

 Manuel Castells.
invention of communal heavens" or
"resistance identities as reactions
against the information age,
symptomatic of a new conflict between
"the Net and the self," between
"networks of instrumentality, powered by
new information technologies" on one
hand, and "the power of identity,
anchoring people's minds in their history,
geography, and cultures on the other

Recent trends in the Sociological study

of Religion
Increasing salience of individual spirituality
in the place of traditional religious
institutions
Believing without belonging
Ethical spirituality: real spirituality is about
living a virtuous life, one characterized by
helping others, transcending ones own
selfish interests to seek what is right.

 Wide spectrum of spirituality, ranging

from theist to extra-theist
Spiritual Supermarkets this means
that "the religious tradition, which
previously could be authoritatively
imposed, now has to be marketed. It
must be 'sold' to a clientele that is
no longer constrained to 'buy.'"
Religious institutions have become
marketing agencies and the religious
traditions consumer commodities.

Fundamental changes in the

structural as well as cultural
basis of traditional communities
Disruption of caste hierarchies
Upward mobility of lower castes
Higher Education for girls and
migration to cities and the resultant
economic independence
Crisis in the agrarian communities
Challenge to the patriarchal values
and traditional gender roles

Reinvention of tradition and honour

by these communities
Imaginations and constructions of
traditions and core cultural values
Women as the bearers of honour and
tradition
Leading to violence and use of force

 Globalisation as spoiling the religious

and moral values of younger
generation
Increasing instances of moral
policing and cultural intolerance
The urge to protect our culture
under threat

Pink Chaddy Campaign by Pub

going, loose and forward women

Fear of eloping girls

and diminishing numbers
Love Jihad controversy

Caste/khap Panchayats and

increasing intolerance

Church Set to Check Interfaith

Weddings
By Dhinesh Kallungal
THRISSUR: Stung by the rising interfaith marriages, the Thrissur
Archdiocese is set to bring in an action plan to check the practice
among the members of different Catholic sects in the state.
The action plan is being formulated after the Catholic authorities
found that there is a significant fall in the number of members in
the community.
According to an unofficial survey conducted by the Archdiocese,
everyday one of their members is marrying someone of a different
faith, which tends to diminish the strength of the religious
community. On an average, around 200 cases, mostly women,
marrying spouses of different faith, are being reported each year.

Increasing interreligious and

intercaste marriages are here to stay

Cultural and structural reasons

that cannot be escaped
The question is how to deal with
it in a democratic, non-violent
manner within the framework of
Indian Constitution that ensures
individual liberty

 The dynamics of marriage- to convert

or not The patriarchal assumptions behind
Conversion as a strategic/conciliatory
move
The fundamental changes to the family
structure and impact on the new
generation who will simply go beyond
the confines of traditional religiosity

Studies on Godless parents and Secular

households in US by Pew Research Centre
for Religion and Public life
High levels of family solidarity and emotional
closeness between parents and nonreligious
youth, and strong ethical standards and moral
values that had been clearly articulated as they
were imparted to the next generation.
"Many nonreligious parents were more
coherent and passionate about their ethical
principles than some of the 'religious' parents
in our study," Bengston told me. "The vast
majority appeared to live goal-filled lives
characterized by moral direction and sense of
life having a purpose."

 Zuckerman's work, and the work of

other sociologists he compiles, backs
this up. You don't need God to be
good.
Chief among those traits found
among children of irreligious couples:
rational problem solving, personal
autonomy, independence of thought,
avoidance of corporal punishment, a
spirit of "questioning everything"
and, far above all, empathy.

Thank You