Global Religious Movements in Regional Context offers a wide-ranging exploration of the adaptation and diversity of religious traditions in various geographical, cultural and ethnic contexts within the contemporary world. The book analyses the complexities of the relationships between religion and globalization, and general trends and counter-trends in secularization. It argues that religions that 'go global' cannot remain unchanged by their importation into new cultures, and explores the creative tension between indigenization and a sense of global identity. The chapters focus on Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in the UK, the USA, Latin America and Africa, as well as the world-wide spread of Islam and of the Japanese-derived Buddhist movement, the Soka Gakkai. The five textbooks and Reader that make up the Religion Today Open University/Ashgate series are: o From Sacred Text to Internet o Religion and Social Transformations o Perspectives on Civil Religion o Global Religious Movements in Regional Context o Belief Beyond Boundaries o Religion Today: A Reader

From global missionizing among proselytic faiths to mass migration through religious diasporas, religion has traveled from one side of the world and back again. It continues to play a prominent role in shaping world politics and has been a vital force in the continued emergence, spread, and creation of a transnational civil society. Exploring how religious roots are shaping organizations that seek to aid people across political and geographic boundaries - 'service movements' - this book focuses on how religious movements establish structures to assist people with basic human needs such as food, clothing, shelter, education, and health. Examining a multitude of faith traditions with origins in different parts of the world, seven contributing chapters, with an introduction and conclusions by the senior author, offer a unique discussion of the intersections between religious transnationalism and social movements.

In his exploration of the interaction between religion and worldwide social and cultural change, the author examines the major theories of global change and discusses the ways in which such change impinges on contemporary religious practice, meaning and influence. Beyer explores some of the key issues in understanding the shape of religion today, including religion as culture and as social system, pure and applied religion, privatized and publicly influential religion, and liberal versus conservative religions. He goes on to apply these issues to five contemporary illustrative cases: the American Christian Right; Liberation Theology movements in Latin America; the Islamic Revolution in Iran; Zionists in Israel; and religiou

This title was first published in 2002: Global Religious Movements in Regional Context offers a wide-ranging exploration of the adaptation and diversity of religious traditions in various geographical, cultural and ethnic contexts within the contemporary world. The book analyses the complexities of the relationships between religion and globalization, and general trends and counter-trends in secularization. It argues that religions that 'go global' cannot remain unchanged by their importation into new cultures, and explores the creative tension between indigenization and a sense of global identity. The chapters focus on Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in the UK, the USA, Latin America and Africa, as well as the worldwide spread of Islam and of the Japanese-derived Buddhist movement, the Soka Gakkai. The five textbooks and Reader that make up the Religion Today Open University/Ashgate series are: o From Sacred Text to Internet o Religion and Social Transformations o Perspectives on Civil Religion o Global Religious Movements in Regional Context o Belief Beyond Boundaries o Religion Today: A Reader

"This title was first published in 2002: Global Religious Movements in Regional Context offers a wide-ranging exploration of the adaptation and diversity of religious traditions in various geographical, cultural and ethnic contexts within the contemporary world. The book analyses the complexities of the relationships between religion and globalization, and general trends and counter-trends in secularization. It argues that religions that 'go global' cannot remain unchanged by their importation into new cultures, and explores the creative tension between indigenization and a sense of global identity. The chapters focus on Evangelical and Pentecostal Christianity in the UK, the USA, Latin America and Africa, as well as the worldwide spread of Islam and of the Japanese-derived Buddhist movement, the Soka Gakkai. The five textbooks and Reader that make up the Religion Today Open University/Ashgate series are: o From Sacred Text to Internet o Religion and Social Transformations o Perspectives on Civil Religion o Global Religious Movements in Regional Context o Belief Beyond Boundaries o Religion Today: A Reader"--Provided by publisher.

Like any other subject, the study of religion is a child of its time. Shaped and forged over the course of the twentieth century, it has reflected the interests and political situation of the world at the time. As the twenty-first century unfolds, it is undergoing a major transition along with religion itself. This volume showcases new work and new approaches to religion which work across boundaries of religious tradition, academic discipline and region. The influence of globalizing processes has been evident in social and cultural networking by way of new media like the internet, in the extensive power of global capitalism and in the increasing influence of international bodies and legal instruments. Religion has been changing and adapting too. This handbook offers fresh insights on the dynamic reality of religion in global societies today by underscoring transformations in eight key areas: Market and Branding; Contemporary Ethics and Virtues; Intimate Identities; Transnational Movements; Diasporic Communities; Responses to Diversity; National Tensions; and Reflections on ‘Religion’. These themes demonstrate the handbook’s new topics and approaches that move beyond existing agendas. Bringing together scholars of all ages and stages of career from around the world, the handbook showcases the dynamism of religion in global societies. It is an accessible introduction to new ways of approaching the study of religion practically, theoretically and geographically.

New religions emerge as distinct entities in the religious landscape when innovations are introduced by a charismatic leader or a schismatic group leaves its parent organization. New religious movements (NRMs) often present novel doctrines and advocate unfamiliar modes of behavior, and have therefore often been perceived as controversial. NRMs have, however, in recent years come to be treated in the same way as established religions, that is, as complex cultural phenomena involving myths, rituals and canonical texts. This Companion discusses key features of NRMs from a systematic, comparative perspective, summarizing results of forty years of research. The volume addresses NRMs that have caught media attention, including movements such as Scientology, New Age, the Neopagans, the Sai Baba movement and Jihadist movements active in a post-9/11 context. An essential resource for students of religious studies, the history of religion, sociology, anthropology and the psychology of religion.