SOCA02H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 16: Collective Effervescence, Civil Religion, Class Conflict
Document Summary
Religion helps us cope with the fact that we must die. Durkheim: highlighted the way religion contributes to social order: collective effervescence: excites us by making us feel part of something larger. When ppl live together, they come to share common sentiments/values: form a collective conscience, causes us to distinguish everyday world (profane) from the religious world (sacred, we distinguish certain objects symbolizing the sacred, called totems. Stanley cup: we invent public practices to connect w/ the sacred, called rituals. Effect of religion is to reinforce social solidarity. Marx, conflict, & religion as a prop for inequality. Durkheim"s theory of religion is a functionalist account. Marx: religion diminishes class conflict the opium of the people . Civil religion: set of quasi religious beliefs and practices that binds the pop/ justifies way of life. Stressed the way religion can contribute to social change: wrote the protestant ethic.
