Religion, Theology and the Human Sciences
Cambridge University Press
Edition: 1st Edition, 11/15/2001
EAN 9780521795081, ISBN10: 0521795087
Paperback, 352 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm
Language: English
Religion, Theology and the Human Sciences explores the religious consequences of the so-called 'end of history' and 'triumph of capitalism' as they have impinged upon key institutions of social reproduction in recent times. The book explores the imposition of managerial modernity upon successive sectors of society and shows why many people today feel themselves to be oppressed by systems of management that seem to leave them no option but to conform. This culture has spread through education, health and social services and has been welcomed by the churches. Richard Roberts seeks to challenge and outflank such seamless, oppressive modernity, through reconfiguration of the religious and spiritual field. This volume will be of use to a range of students in humanities and social sciences (particularly theology and the sociology of religion) and should become standard reading for those concerned with the practical application of contemporary theology in a postmodern world.
Introduction
Part I. Spirits of Capitalism and the Commodification of the Soul
1. The closed circle
Marxism, Christianity and the 'end of history'
2. Religion and the 'enterprise culture'
the British experience from Thatcher to Blair (1979–99)
3. Power and empowerment
New Age managers and the dialects of modernity/postmodernity
4. The end of the university and the last academic?
Part II. Theology and Power in the Matrix of Modernity/Postmodernity
5. Lord, bondsman, and churchman
integrity, identity and power in Anglicanism
6. Ruling the body
the care of souls in a managerial church
7. Theology and the social sciences
Part III. Religion and Social Science
Identity, Globalisation and the Transmutations of the Religious Field
8. The souls of Europe
identity, religion and theology
9. Globalized religion
the Parliament of the World's Religions (Chicago 1993) in theoretical perspective
10. Time, virtuality and the goddess
transmutations of the religious field
Conclusion
11. Identity as vocation
the prospect for religion.