Publication detail

Religion in consumer culture as an alternative to the secularisation paradigm: example of Buddhist values as an expression of consumerism

Authors: Bártová Zuzana

Year: 2021

Type of publication: ostatní - přednáška nebo poster

Page from-to: nestránkováno

Titles:

Language	Name	Abstract	Keywords
eng	Religion in consumer culture as an alternative to the secularisation paradigm: example of Buddhist values as an expression of consumerism	Czech social scientists mostly consider the Czech religious situation as an example of secularisation due to the modernisation process. However, as Roman Vido (2019) remarks, Western-European theories of secularisation are sometimes applied to the Czech situation without a major critical assessment (cf. Hamplová, 2013; Nešpor, 2010; Václavík, 2010). Vido introduces therefore the approach of Jörg Stolz and his collaborators (2016) which theorizes the contemporary religious situation as a competition with secular. However, this approach remains embedded in the secularisation paradigm (Tchannen 1992). The present paper proposes another analytical framework as an alternative to this dominating paradigm. It takes into account recent theoretical developments regarding the transformation of religion in the backdrop of consumer society (Gauthier, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2020; Gauthier, Woodhead and Martikainen, 2013a, b). This approach proposes to discuss how consumer society together with its ethos and global economic dynamics transform religion. It considers how consumerism as an ethos of consumer culture (i.e. materialism, commoditisation, overconsumption, individualism, freedom, choice, authenticity, wellbeing or self-realisation) impacts religion. Using the example of an ethnographic case study on convert Buddhism (Prebish, 1993) in France and in the Czech Republic, the paper argues that Buddhist religiosity takes on the form of lifestyle seen as a cultural model for a coherent and systematic way of life in consumer culture. It focuses on its values such as benevolence, emotional reflexivity, wellbeing, freedom, authenticity, progress, pragmatism and religion. These values show important similarities with those of consumer culture. This argument attempts to go beyond the religious/secular division and to avoid one-sided critique of the loss of religious authenticity due to commoditisation (Carrette and King 2005). It also seeks to shed light on failures of market theories of

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