Religious market

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The concept of the religious market describes the increasing competition between religious interpretations as a result of the loss of the monopoly of interpretation of traditionally dominant religious communities. The concept was first applied to American Protestantism . The possibility of being able to put together an individual “faith menu” from a religious “supermarket” should not lead to the relativization and weakening of faith, but rather, according to the representatives of the market model, lead to a growth in religiosity, which contradicts the current secularization theory . This development can be clearly seen in the emergence and expansion of the so-called mega - churches .

History of the concept

The "market model of religion" was first presented by the sociologist Peter L. Berger in 1963, then further developed over the years with his colleague Thomas Luckmann and finally became an integral part of the sociology of religion . However, various theoretical assumptions can be found with regard to the emergence of a religious market and the definition of the supply and demand side, such as in the "New Paradigm" in American religious economics, the concept of the religious field by Pierre Bourdieu or the market of popular religion by Hubert garlic .

Functioning of religious markets from a religious-economic point of view

The functioning of religious markets is described by the economics of religion. This assumes that religious markets develop spontaneously and unplanned. The prerequisite for this is the state's withdrawal from the religious field, so that a minimum of religious freedom is guaranteed and thus religious diversity is made possible. As a result of this “deregulation” a competition arises between the religions, which then creates a market. This market constellation leads to a wide range of products, which in turn causes a higher religious demand. Religiousness is thus aggregated through the interplay of supply and demand.

According to this approach, religious markets are characterized like economic markets and consist of current and potential consumers, a set of organizations that want to serve the market, and the religious product provided by the organizations.

This theoretical approach is based on assumptions of the rational choice theory . The market participants are seen as rational actors who strive to maximize benefits. Believers weigh their decisions according to the expected costs and returns of their actions. The central idea is that people are interested in transcendent products that can only be provided by religious providers. Often, however, it is also about the expectation of material advantages that result from a certain religious affiliation, the worship of a certain deity or increased religiosity per se (see various messianic or cargo cults that have in part displaced Christianity).

Criticism of the market model of the religious economy

Frequent criticisms of the religious-economic market model are the reductionist view and the lack of attention to the social constitution of markets. From a sociological perspective, however, markets are always socially, culturally and politically embedded. In addition, it is assumed that actors always act rationally with regard to their choice of action, desires and beliefs and thus carefully weigh different options with regard to costs and benefits, which can be strongly questioned. Furthermore, religious economics assumes "automatic" market formation as a result of state deregulation and remains undefined in terms of the definition of the religious market concept.

Religious markets from an institutional theory perspective

From the perspective of an institutional-theoretical approach, the development of a religious market is the result of complex institutionalization processes. In the case of the USA, this involves the implementation of pluralism as a central cultural idea, the mutual rapprochement of the Protestant denominations and, ultimately, the shift of competition from the denomination level to the congregational level. In this sense, religious change arises as a result of various forms of conflict resolution that have led to a change in the "institutional logic" of competition in the religious field. This means that due to religious conflicts, the organizational principles, practices and symbols that structure the perception and behavior of the field change. Three different institutional logics can be found in the US field: the logic of parish (territorially structured church), that of denominationalism, and that of the market. The emergence of a market is thus only one possible form of religious conflict resolution and cannot, as assumed in religious economics, automatically be viewed as the result of religious competition.

Historical development of the institutionalization of markets

Until the beginning of the 19th century, the religious field in the USA was characterized by violent conflicts between the Protestant churches. The institutional logic was characterized by the parochial principle : Territorial monopolies were established based on the model of the European state church model. During the second awakening movement 1810-1840 ( also called Great Diversification by William R. Hutchison ), the central cultural idea of pluralism prevailed, so that from now on religious conflicts were resolved non-violently and the territorial principle was replaced by denominationalism , which led to secession. From the 20th century, the denominations increasingly converged and also crossed ethnic boundaries, so that cooperations and mergers took place. The resulting ecumenical movement pursued the goal of realizing church unity. From the end of the 1960s, the competition between the denominations continued to decrease and increasingly shifted to the individual local communities, so that the denominations were displaced as the most important bearers of religious competition. As a result, one can speak of an institutionalization of the logic of the market: The communities function as religious providers who specialize in the needs of their local audiences, which tend to emigrate if they are not met. The importance of the personal relationship of faith is particularly expressed in the church model of evangelicalism , which has to find a balance between “church discipline” and offers of help. In contrast, the traditional attachment of certain social and ethnic groups to the denominations, e.g. B. that of the white residents of the southern states at the Southern Baptist Convention , while the Catholic Church , which traditionally bound Irish and Italian immigrants to itself, reached new groups.

Characteristics of religious markets

The religious market can be described based on its specific constellation of suppliers and buyers. On the one hand, there is regulated competition on the part of the providers, on the other hand, the parties involved enter into an exchange relationship with one another: the believer chooses between the offer from two or more communities. As a result of the institutionalization of the logic of the market, a new type of community emerges, which is most evident in the so-called megachurches. These local individual communities define growth as their central organizational purpose to which all other goals must be subordinate. The standard of efficiency that is otherwise found in modern companies applies. The enforcement of the market logic depends on the emergence of overarching market standards, as these enable the comparability of offers and thus constitute the exchange relationship necessary for the market constellation. These standards were disseminated through both the community growth movement and the mass media. Due to the strong representation of evangelicalism on television, and later also on the Internet, there is a broad public on the demand side in which religious offers can be compared. On the supply side, the enforcement of standards is particularly evident from the changed conception of the services. Since these, as the largest event in the municipality, embody their identity to the outside world, they play a special role in positioning themselves in the competition. The traditional process, as it was still to be found in denomination-bound churches, is becoming increasingly flexible and replaced by new elements, such as Christian pop music . It can be assumed that the modernization of worship services will lead to membership growth.

literature

  • Berger, Peter L. 1963. A Market Model for the Analysis of Ecumenicity. Social Research 30: 77-93.
  • Iannaccone, LR 1998: Introduction into Economics of Religion. Journal of Economic Literature 36: 1465-1496.
  • Kern, Thomas and Insa Pruisken. 2018. What is a religious market? On the change in religious competition in the USA. In: Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 47 (1): pp. 29–45.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kern, Thomas and Insa Pruisken. 2018. What is a religious market? On the change in religious competition in the USA. In: Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 47 (1): pp. 29–45.
  2. ↑ Garlic, Hubert. 2007. Popular Religion Markets. Pp. 73–90 in: M. Jäckel (Ed.), Ambivalences of Consumption and Advertising Communication. Wiesbaden: VS.
  3. ↑ Berger, PL (Ed.), 1969: A Rumor of Angels: Modern Society and the Rediscovery of the Supernatural. Garden City NY: Doubleday.
  4. ↑ Luckmann, Thomas.1993. The invisible religion. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
  5. ↑ Berger, Peter L. 1963. A Market Model for the Analysis of Ecumenicity. Social Research 30: 77-93.
  6. ↑ Luckmann, Thomas. 1991 [EA 1967]. The invisible religion. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp.
  7. ↑ Garlic, Hubert. 2007. Popular Religion Markets. P. 73–90 in: M. Jäckel Hrsg., Ambivalences of consumption and advertising communication. Wiesbaden: VS.
  8. ↑ Hero, Markus. 2018. Religious market. In: Detlef Pollack, Volkhard Krech, Olaf Müller and Markus Hero (eds.): Handbuch Religionssoziologie. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden Religious Market, pp. 567–590.
  9. ↑ Stark, Rodney, and Laurence R. Iannaccone. 1994. A Supply-Side Reinterpretation of the "Secularization" of Europe. In: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 33: 3, 230-252.
  10. ^ Iannaccone, LR 1998: Introduction into Economics of Religion. Journal of Economic Literature 36: 1465-1496.
  11. ↑ Bourdieu, Pierre. 2000. The religious field. Texts on the economy of salvation. Constance: UVK.
  12. ↑ Bourdieu, P., 2011: Genesis and Structure of the Religious Field. Pp. 30–90 in: Ders .: Religion. Berlin: Suhrkamp.
  13. ↑ Garlic, Hubert. 2007. Popular Religion Markets. P. 83ff. in: M. Jäckel (Ed.), Ambivalences of Consumption and Advertising Communication. Wiesbaden: VS.
  14. ↑ Garlic, Hubert. 2009. Popular Religion. On the way to a spiritual society. Frankfurt am Main / New York: Campus.
  15. ↑ Stolz, Jörg. 2018. Theory of Rational Action and Explanatory Sociology. In: Detlef Pollack, Volkhard Krech, Olaf Müller and Markus Hero (eds.): Handbuch Religionssoziologie. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, pp. 97–122.
  16. ↑ Stark, Rodney, and Laurence R. Iannaccone. 1994. A Supply-Side Reinterpretation of the “Secularization” of Europe. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 33 (3): 230-52.
  17. ↑ Stark, R. & R. Finke. 2000. Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley: University of California Press.
  18. ^ Iannaccone, LR 1998. Introduction into Economics of Religion. Journal of Economic Literature 36: 1465-1496.
  19. ↑ Stolz, Jörg. 2018. Theory of Rational Action and Explanatory Sociology. In: Detlef Pollack, Volkhard Krech, Olaf Müller and Markus Hero Ed .: Handbuch Religionssoziologie. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, p. 107.
  20. ↑ Hero, Markus. 2010. The new forms of religious life. An institutional theoretical analysis of new religiosity. Würzburg: Ergon.
  21. ↑ Stolz, Jörg. 2018. Theory of Rational Action and Explanatory Sociology. In: Detlef Pollack, Volkhard Krech, Olaf Müller and Markus Hero (eds.): Handbuch Religionssoziologie. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, pp. 97–122.
  22. ↑ Kern, Thomas and Insa Pruisken. 2018. What is a religious market? On the change in religious competition in the USA. In: Zeitschrift für Soziologie 47, p. 30.
  23. ↑ Kern, Thomas and Insa Pruisken. 2018. What is a religious market? On the change in religious competition in the USA. In: Zeitschrift für Soziologie 47, p. 29
  24. ↑ Thornton, PH, W. Ocasio & M. Lounsbury. 2012. The Institutional Logics Perspective: A New Approach to Culture, Structure, and Process. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  25. ↑ Hochgeschwender, Michael. 2018. American Religion. Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism and Fundamentalism. Frankfurt am Main, Leipzig: Publishing House of World Religions.
  26. ^ Niebuhr, Helmut R. 1957. The Social Sources of Denomationalism. New York: Living Age Books.
  27. ↑ Weber, Max. 1980. Economy and Society (5th ed.). Tübingen: JCB Mohr.
  28. ↑ Kern, Thomas and Insa Pruisken. 2018. What is a religious market? On the change in religious competition in the USA. In: Zeitschrift für Soziologie 47, p. 41
  29. ↑ Kern, Thomas and Insa Pruisken. 2017. Managing Contingency through Organization: The Growth of the Megachurches in the USA. P. 407–427 in: H. Winkel & K. Sammet (Ed.), Religion sociologically thinking. Reflections on current developments in theory and empiricism. Wiesbaden: Springer.
  30. ↑ Pruisken, Insa and Janina Coronel. 2014. Megachurches: managerialization in the religious field? P. 53–79 in: P. Heiser & C. Ludwig (Eds.), Social Forms of Religions in Transition. Wiesbaden: Springer VS.
  31. ↑ Kern, Thomas and Insa Pruisken. 2018. What is a religious market? On the change in religious competition in the USA. In: Zeitschrift für Soziologie 47, p. 39