Programme full

Thursday 16 April 2015 11:00 - 12:30
PAPER SESSION 4
The strong influence of Bourdieu's work on sociology generally and on the sociology of religion, in particular, is evident
in the relative absence of critical engagements with his conceptual apparatus. Apart from the notable exceptions in the
work of Jeffrey Alexander and Michelle Lamont in cultural sociology and some criticisms in the sociology of religion
(e.g. Thumala 2012) the pertinence and fruitfulness of applying Bourdieu's approach to the investigation of religious
practice and belief remain mostly unchallenged. While there may be good theoretical and empirical reasons for this,
these reasons need to be examined and made explicit. In this paper we seek to critically consider the uses of
Bourdieu in researching cultural and religious change. In particular, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of
Bourdieu's concepts of field and habitus for understanding religious change. Among other studies, this is analysed,
within the context of the emergence of clerical child sexual abuse in Ireland; where, until the 1990s clerical child
sexual abuse remained hidden from the public space and abusers protected by the 'scared ring of steel' of Church and
elite collegiality. (Donnelly and Inglis, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to establish a theoretical framework for
future empirical research.
There's No Such Thing as (Secular) Society: Re-imagining God in the Contemporary Workplace
Read, M.
(University of Birmingham)
This paper draws upon my qualitative PhD research into the contemporary workplace as seen through twenty Quaker
eyes. It argues that workplaces today should not be understood in merely secular terms. Rather, models of work need
to accommodate the subjective identities of their members if they are to be better understood.
In the paper, I extrapolate ideas from my thesis to suggest that Quaker visions of the 'good' are negotiated at work in
the everyday as religious ideals. A point of practical accommodation with the work organisation is reached by these
religious affiliates. This pragmatic acceptance of managerial hegemony in the everyday should not be taken for
outright agreement, however. Whilst Quakers' religiosity informs their workaday engagement, its utopian visions are
felt but not observed when viewed through a managerialist lens.
Drawing on Martin Parker's (2002) view of work organisations as a negotiated and shifting utopic enterprise, the paper
concludes that the workplace should be re-framed as the 'Workfluss'. Less a place than a confluence of continually
negotiated individual visions of the 'good', work should only be seen as truly secular when religious perspectives are
shown to be no longer present within this shifting collective form.
The Bible in (Virtual) Community: Accountability in Digital Religion
Hutchings, T.
(Durham University)
Research in the field of digital religion from the 1990s to the present day has focused extensively on the nature of
authority and community online (for an overview, see Digital Religion, ed. Heidi Campbell, Routledge, 2013). In
religion, as in politics, education and other arenas, debates continue over the degree to which shifts in authority and
community represent social progress or regression.
The concept of accountability is integral to religious authority and community, but has so far received insufficient
research attention. For Evangelical Christians in particular, the life of faith pursues and is guaranteed by visibility.
Practitioners bear witness to non-believing audiences by demonstrating their faith, and must in turn be witnessed,
watched carefully by fellow believers for signs of moral failure. In this discourse, community is a space in which the
participant is encouraged to grow in character and commitment by performing their identity – including their
submission to authority – in a context of mutual surveillance.
This presentation will explore the significance of accountability in Christian media design, using the internationally
popular Bible app YouVersion as a case study. YouVersion encourages users to circulate Bible verses through social
media, to sign up to reading plans that monitor their progress, and to invite a small group of their closest friends to
comment on their reading activity. This interview-based paper will explore how users and commentators are
responding to this emphasis on accountability, drawing conclusions about the role of visibility in emerging patterns of
networked religion.
BSA Annual Conference 2015 166
Glasgow Caledonian University