Two Sociological Approaches to Religion in Modern Britain

This article compares the approach adopted by two recent sociological accounts of religion in modern Britain (by Bruce and Davie). Attention is drawn in broad terms to the parallels between sociological and religious approaches, and a contrast made specifically between a sociology of religion cast in terms of a narrative of decline and diversity (or an account of the place of religion in the perspective of modernity), and one that pays primary attention to indigenous patterns of meaning. Conclusions are drawn as to the limitations of method and apprehension of the one approach, and the openness and potential for comparison of the other.     

宗教与认同:宗教对自我认同发展的作用分析

对自我的研究是宗教心理学研究的重要领域。宗教是青少年自我认同发展的重要源泉。文章对宗教在自我认同发展过程中的作用进行了深入的分析后认为,从宏观角度上看,宗教是青少年认同发展的意识形态基础;宗教为青少年提供社会化的社会环境;宗教还是青少年认同发展的重要精神背景。文章还以仪式和祈祷为例,从微观角度分析了宗教崇拜对青少年认同发展的作用和意义。     

践形与践行——宋明理学中两种不同的工夫系统

践形与践行都是先秦儒家的概念,其具体指谓也非常接近.但到了宋代,自从<大学>被列为四书之先后,对<大学>之不同的解释重心与诠释方向终于使践形与践行成为两种不同的工夫系统.前者由慎独、诚意之诚于中,形于外形成了一种纵贯的彰显与全面的实现系统;后者则由知行相须而成为一种横向、平面的落实系统.程朱的知行相须就代表着对伦理认知之横向的落实,而阳明的知行合一则是以诚意的方式扭转、调整知行关系的表现;至于其所屡屡强调的一个工夫、本然如是等等,都是从诚意与践形的角度说的,也都是实诚其意的表现.而人们在理解知行合一上的种种困惑,其实也就来自这两个不同系统的内在张力及其思想谱系的不一致性.     

Semiotics of Identity: Politics and Education

In this text I concentrate on semiotic aspects of the theory of political identity in the work of Ernesto Laclau, and especially on the connection between metaphors, metonymies, catachreses and synecdoches. Those tropes are of ontological status, and therefore they are of key importance in understanding the discursive “production” of identity in political and educational practices. I use the conceptions of both Laclau and Eco to elucidate the operation of this structure, and illustrate it with an example of the emergence of the “Solidarność” movement in Poland, expanding its analysis provided by Laclau. I focus on the moment when one of particular demands assumes the representation of totality, which, in Laclau, is left to “circumstantial” determination. This moment inspires several questions and needs to be given special attention if Laclau’s theory is to be used in theory of education. It is so because theory of education cannot remain on the level of the ontological (which is the core of Laclau’s achievement), but has to theorize “non-ontological” dimensions as well, that is the ontic (i.e. “content” of education), the deontic (duty, obligation, and the normative in general), as well as what I call the deontological—the very relation between “what there is” and “what there is not” (including that which should be) as the locus of education.     

全球伦理与道德宗教

1993年9月,6500名来自世界各地的不同宗教信仰的人士和一些非宗教组织的代表,在美国芝加哥举行的“世界宗教议会”上通过了一份《全球伦理宣言》。《宣言》认为,各种宗教之间已经有一种共同之处,它可以成为一种全球伦理的基础;这种“全球伦理”, “指的是对一些有约束性的价值观、一些不可取消的标准和人格态度的一种基本共识”; 《宣言》指出:“没有新的全球伦理,便没有新的全球秩序”。     

Strong Hermeneutics: Contingency and Moral Identity

Book Information Strong Hermeneutics: Contingency and Moral Identity. By Nicholas H. Smith. Routledge. London. 1997. Pp. x + 197. Paperback, £14.99.     

Identity Politics and Politicized Identities: Identity Processes and the Dynamics of Protest

Over the last decades, the concept of identity has become increasingly central in the social psychology of protest. Collective identity, politicized collective identity, dual identity, and multiple identities are concepts that help to understand and describe the social psychological dynamics of protest. In this article, I theorize about identity processes in the context of protest participation: how group identification establishes the link between social identity and collective identity, how multiple identities and dual identities influence protest participation, and how collective identity politicizes and radicalizes. I will illustrate my argument with results from research into collective action participation among farmers in the Netherlands and Spain, Turkish, and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands and New York, South African citizens, and participants in street demonstrations conducted by my research group at VU‐University.     

Religion,Identity and Freedom of Expression

This article examines the issues raised by religious adherents’ wish to express their beliefs in the public domain through, for example, their modes of dress, their performance of public roles, and their response to homosexuality. It considers on what grounds religion might merit special treatment and how special that treatment should be. A common approach to these issues is through the notion of religious identity, but both the idea of religious identity and its use to ground claims against others prove deeply problematic. An alternative and more productive approach is through the notion of harm. People should enjoy the freedom to express their religious convictions subject to the harm principle, but harm should include the undermining of people’s status as free and equal citizens. The article concludes by considering the grounds upon which this alternative approach might recognize religion as special and might justify giving an overriding status to civic equality.