Modernity and the disenchantment of Life: A Muslim-Christian contrast

Mark R. Woodward

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

Abstract

Modernization theorists, following Max Weber, have generally assumed that the “disenchantment of life�? was an essential component of the process of rationalization which gave rise to the modern era. Traditional cosmologies in which God(s) and hosts of lesser spiritual beings play active roles in the natural environment and human affairs gradually give way to an impersonal and mechanistic cosmology and its sociological counterpart, the functionally rationalized bureaucratic social order. The persistence of traditional religions and their periodic resurgence are understood as examples of incomplete modernization or alternatively as revivalistic responses to rapid cultural change. Or, so goes the theory.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationIslam in the Era of Globalization
Subtitle of host publicationMuslim Attitudes towards Modernity and Identity
PublisherTaylor and Francis
Pages80-102
Number of pages23
ISBN (Electronic)9781135788292
ISBN (Print)0203988868, 9780700716913
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 1 2005

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Arts and Humanities
  • General Social Sciences

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