Religious Transformations and Socio-Political Change: Eastern Europe and Latin America (Religion and Society)

The series Religion and Society (RS) contributes to the exploration of religions as social systems– both in Western and non-Western societies; in particular, it examines religions in their differentiation from, and intersection with, other cultural systems, such as art, economy, law and politics. Due attention is given to paradigmatic case or comparative studies that exhibit a clear theoretical orientation with the empirical and historical data of religion and such aspects of religion as ritual, the religious imagination, constructions of tradition, iconography, or media. In addition, the formation of religious communities, their construction of identity, and their relation to society and the wider public are key issues of this series. Preface 7 Introduction 15 Historical models 21 Gods’ statues as a tool of Assyrian political policy: Esarhaddon’s return of Marduk to Babylon 23 Religious projection: A Hellenistic instance 39 Mani versus Mazdak: The prophet and his king in pre-Islamic Iran 55 Religious transformations and socio-political change: A western eurocentric paradigm? 75 Eastern Europe 87 The intelligentsia between secular and religious culture 89 Personal spiritual orientations and religiousness in (former) Soviet society 97 John Paul II and Mikhail Gorbachev: The process of globalization in multidimensional comparison 111 The analogy of the proportionalitas: The coherence between sociopolitical development and the development of religion in the new socio-cultural reality of Czechoslovakia 123 National history, culture and the process of religious change 131 Religion and revolution: A Hungarian pilgrimage in Rumania 141 Muslim fundamentalism in Soviet Central Asia: A social perspective 155 The Muslims of Poland: A religious minority in transition 163 Delusion and illusion, false hopes and failed dreams: Religion, the churches and East Germany’s 1989 “November revolution” 175 Theology of liberation and the Protestant monastery of Loccum in Germany 191 Opposition within affinity between religion and politics with reference to Golden Age Denmark and Brazil 203 Latin America 219 Religious transformations and social change in Latin America 221 In the beginning there were the Canaries ...: The forgotten purgatory en route to the new world 235 Missionary activity in Latin America: Confession manuals and indigenous eroticism 251 Iconography, inter subjectivity, and anthropological experience: A Toba shamanic tree 269 Political culture, religious culture and sacrifice 307 Theoretical and methodological implications 335 Theories on tradition and change in sociology, anthropology, history, and the history of religions 337 Method, theory, and the subject matter 363 What sort of “reality” is religion? 371 The symbolics of power discourse among contemporary religious groups in West Africa 395 Religious studies as a saving grace? From Goodenough to South Africa 425 Conclusion 453 Methodological conceits and theoretical opportunities: Reflections on the level of analysis appropriate for explaining socio- cultural phenomena 455 List of contributors 467 Index 469