Global migration and the selective reimagining of religions

Beyer, Peter

doi:10.1590/S0104-71831998000100002

Abstract

It is a commonplace in discussions of immigrant religion to speak of how religion aids in the adjustment of migrants to a new culture and society; how it serves as a dimension of continuity in the process of integration. This article examines theoretical foundations for reconsidering this perspective in the context of globalization in general and global migration in particular. In a global society, it is far less useful to think of migrants as leaving one society to join another, especially insofar as this optic tends to assume a) that the new “host” culture remains comparatively unaffected while the immigrants culture faces the dilemma of assimilation versus ethnic preservation; and b) that the culture of origin simply loses a few members without much effect by the migrants back onto their cultures of origin. By contrast, the article argues that the consequences of migration are to help (re)define religions in all areas where they are represented; and thus to make distinctions between “core” and “diaspora” far less salient. Instead, different areas where religious traditions are represented are better seen as centres for creating different options for the authentic construction of the same religion; options that are very often in communication with each other.

Keywords
culture; globalization; migration; religion

Resumo

É lugar comum nas discussões sobre a religião dos imigrantes referir-se ao fato de que a religião ajuda no seu ajustamento a uma nova cultura ou sociedade; e de que ela age como uma dimensão de continuidade no processo de integração. Este artigo examina os fundamentos teóricos para se reconsiderar esta perspectiva no contexto da globalização em geral e da migração global em particular. Numa sociedade global, é bem menos útil pensar os migrantes deixando uma sociedade para integrar outra, especialmente tendo presente as formas que esta ótica tende a assumir: a) que a nova cultura “hospedeira" permaneceria sem ser afetada comparativamente, enquanto a cultura dos imigrantes se defrontaria com o dilema da assimilação versus preservação étnica; b) que a cultura de origem simplesmente perderia alguns poucos membros sem que isto tenha grande efeito sobre a cultura de origem. De outro modo, este artigo argumenta que as consequências da migração ajudam a (re)definir as religiões em todas as áreas onde elas estão representadas; e então, fazer distinções entre “centro” e “diáspora” se toma bem menos relevante. Ao contrário, diferentes áreas onde as tradições religiosas estão representadas são melhor percebidas como centros para criação de diferentes opções para a autêntica construção da própria religião; opções que estão muito frequentemente em comunicação umas com as outras.

Palavras-chave
cultura; globalização; migração; religião

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References

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30. WARNER, S. Religion and migration in the United States . 1997. Paper presented to the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, Toulouse.
31. WEBER, M. Economy and society: an outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley: University of California, 1978.

Publication Dates

Publication in this collection
June 1998

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

[1] 1. BASCH, L. et al. Nations unbound: transnational projects, postcolonial predicaments, and deterritorialized nation-states. Basel: Gordon and Breach, 1994.

[2] 2. BAUB’CK, R. et al. The challenge of diversity: integration and pluralism in societies of immigration. Aldershot: Avebury, 1996.

[3] 3. BAUMANN, G.; SUNIER, T. (Ed.). Post-migration ethnicity: de-essentializing cohesion, commitments and comparisons. Amsterdam: Spinhuis, 1995.

[4] 4. BECK, U. et al. Reflexive modernization: politics, tradition and aesthetics in the modern social order. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994.

[5] 5. BENMAYOR, R.; SKOTNES, A. (Ed.). Migration and identity: International Yearbook of Oral History and Life Stories, vol. 3. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.

[6] 6. BEYER, P. Religion and globalization . London: Sage, 1994.

[7] 7. BEYER, P. Religion, residual problems, and functional differentiation: an ambiguous relationship. Soziale Systeme , n. 3, p. 219-235, 1997.

[8] 8. CASTLES, S.; MILLER, M. J. The age of migration: international population movements in the modern world. New York: Guilford, 1993.

[9] 9. CAREY, S. The Indianization of the Hare Krishna Movement in Britain. In: BURGHART, R. (Ed.). Hinduism in Great Britain: the perpetuation of religion in an alien cultural milieu. London: Tavistock, 1987.

[10] 10. CHAVES, M. Secularization as declining religious authority. Social Forces , n. 72, p. 749-774, 1994.

[11] 11. COX, H. Fire from heaven: the rise of pentecostal spirituality and the reshaping of religion in the twenty-first century. Reading: Addison Wesley, 1995.

[12] 12. DRIEDGER, L. The ethnic factor: identity in diversity. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1989.

[13] 13. FRESTON, P. Globalisation and the rise of mass pentecostalism in Latin America . 1997. Paper delivered to the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, Toulouse.

[14] 14. GIDDENS, A. The consequences of modernity . Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1990.

[15] 15. GOULD, W. T. S.; FINDLAY, A. M. (Ed.). Population migration and the changing world order . New York: Wiley, 1994.

[16] 16. HADDAD, Y. Y.; SMITH, J. I. Mission to America: five islamic sectarian communities in North America. Gainsville: University Press of Florida, 1993.

[17] 17. HADDAD, Y. Y.; SMITH, J. I. (Ed.). Muslim communities in North America . Albany: SUNY, 1994.

[18] 18. KIM, Y. Y.; GUDYKUNST, W. A. (Ed.). Cross-cultural adaptation: current approaches. London: Sage, 1988.

[19] 19. LAYMAN, E. M. Buddhism in America . Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1976.

[20] 20. LEVITT, P. Local-level global religion: the case of U.S.–Dominican migration. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion , n. 34, 1998. Forthcoming.

[21] 21. LUHMANN, N. Die Weltgesellschaft. In: LUHMANN, N. Soziologische Aufklärung 2: Aufsätze zur Theorie der Gesellschaft. Opladen: Westdeutscher, 1975. p. 51-71.

[22] 22. LUHMANN, N. Die Beobachtung erster und die Beobachtung zweiter Ordnung. In: LUHMANN, N. Die Kunst der Gesellschaft . Frankfurt: Suhrkamp, 1995a. p. 92-164.

[23] 23. LUHMANN, N. Die Weltgesellschaft und ihre Religion. Solidarität , n. 45, v. 9/10, p. 11-12, 1995b.

[24] 24. MARSHALL FRATANI, R. Winning Nigeria for Jesus: nationalist discourse and transnational identity among Nigerian pentecostals. 1997. Paper delivered to the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, Toulouse.

[25] 25. POEWE, K. (Ed.). Charismatic Christianity as a global culture . Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1994.

[26] 26. PREBISH, C. S. American Buddhism . North Scituate: Duxbury, 1979.

[27] 27. THOMAS, G. M. et al. Institutional structure: constituting state, society and the individual. London: Sage, 1987.

[28] 28. ROBERTSON, R. Globalization: social theory and global culture. London: Sage, 1992.

[29] 29. VAN DIJK, R. Time and transcultural technologies of the self in the Ghanian pentecostal diaspora . 1997. Paper delivered to the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, Toulouse.

[30] 30. WARNER, S. Religion and migration in the United States . 1997. Paper presented to the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, Toulouse.

[31] 31. WEBER, M. Economy and society: an outline of interpretive sociology. Berkeley: University of California, 1978.

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