Monasticism, Differentiation and Secularization: Talcott Parsons and the Catholic ‘Monastic Movement’ in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries
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Raf Vanderstraeten
Abstract
Especially in his late work on the evolution of Western society, Talcott Parsons focused his attention on the differentiation of religion from the secular world in general, and the so-called monastic movement in this differentiation process in particular. He viewed the Christian monastic movement as a ‘major’ social development - a ‘seed bed movement’ that had been capable of ‘exerting a powerful and increasing evolutionary leverage on both the secular church and secular society.’ It secured a ‘place to stand,’ from which an explicit concern for the world could be perfected. Particularly within Protestantism, a differentiation from the world continued to incite Christianity’s interventionist, inner-worldly orientation. This article first critically reconstructs Parsons’ views on Protestantism, and then asks how recent developments in the monastic movement in other religious traditions shed light on the relation between religion and secular society. We particularly look at the ways in which the monastic movement in the Catholic church reacted to the secularization of society over recent centuries, and the ways in which the inner-worldly activism of active orders and congregations worked itself out both in the secular world and in the religious institutions themselves. In partial agreement with Parsons, we conclude that ‘strict coupling’ with secular systems is likely to endanger religion, and that forms of ‘loose coupling’ offer better prospects for the religious and monastic movements that aim to be active in the secular world.
Abstract
Especially in his late work on the evolution of Western society, Talcott Parsons focused his attention on the differentiation of religion from the secular world in general, and the so-called monastic movement in this differentiation process in particular. He viewed the Christian monastic movement as a ‘major’ social development - a ‘seed bed movement’ that had been capable of ‘exerting a powerful and increasing evolutionary leverage on both the secular church and secular society.’ It secured a ‘place to stand,’ from which an explicit concern for the world could be perfected. Particularly within Protestantism, a differentiation from the world continued to incite Christianity’s interventionist, inner-worldly orientation. This article first critically reconstructs Parsons’ views on Protestantism, and then asks how recent developments in the monastic movement in other religious traditions shed light on the relation between religion and secular society. We particularly look at the ways in which the monastic movement in the Catholic church reacted to the secularization of society over recent centuries, and the ways in which the inner-worldly activism of active orders and congregations worked itself out both in the secular world and in the religious institutions themselves. In partial agreement with Parsons, we conclude that ‘strict coupling’ with secular systems is likely to endanger religion, and that forms of ‘loose coupling’ offer better prospects for the religious and monastic movements that aim to be active in the secular world.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
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Part I Premodern Boundary Negotiations: Self-Distinctions of the Religious Sphere
- Dynamics of Differentiation from Charlemagne to Dante. Medieval Christian Debates on Religion and Politics beyond the Model of a “Separation of Church and State” 15
- Secularity and Differentiation in Late Antiquity. The Case of Augustine of Hippo 51
- Monasticism, Differentiation and Secularization: Talcott Parsons and the Catholic ‘Monastic Movement’ in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 79
- Negotiating the Boundaries between Religion and Science in the Abbasid Empire 105
- Religious and Secular in Premodern Islam and Christianity 125
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Part II Colonial Boundaries: Religion, Culture, and “Middle Things”
- King, Messiah, and Culture in the Making of Zulu Secularity 157
- The “Middle Things”. Differentiating between the Religious Spheres in Indian and African Mission Contexts in the Nineteenth Century 189
- Beyond Non-Catholic/Catholic (Luong/Giao) Separation: Missionary Expansion and Divergent Manifestations of Religious Differentiation in Colonial Vietnam 213
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Part III Competing Epistemes: Lessons Learned From Asia
- The Autonomy of Science vis-a-vis Religion: Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome as a Theoretical Counter-Narrative to the Western Master Narrative of Functional Differentiation 239
- Global Translations: Conceptualizing Differentiations Between ‘Religion’ and ‘Science’ in Thailand and the Philippines in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries 271
- Demarcating Religion: On the Varying Ways of Conceptualizing Social Differentiation in Japanese History 301
- Rethinking the Place of Religion and Worldviews in Differentiation Theory: A Historical Comparison between Chinese and European Societies 329
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Part IV Programmatic Proposals: Differentiation Theory and the Sociology of Religion and Secularity
- The Fragmentation of the Sacred: An Alternative Narrative of Western Modernity 359
- Rigid Differentiation Theory and Flexible Sociology of Religion? 379
- After Autonomy. Relationships between Art and Religion in Nineteenth Century Germany and their Implications for Differentiation Theory 407
- Beyond Normative Binaries: Neutral Zones as Precursors and Starting Points of Secularity 437
- The Authors 467
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
-
Part I Premodern Boundary Negotiations: Self-Distinctions of the Religious Sphere
- Dynamics of Differentiation from Charlemagne to Dante. Medieval Christian Debates on Religion and Politics beyond the Model of a “Separation of Church and State” 15
- Secularity and Differentiation in Late Antiquity. The Case of Augustine of Hippo 51
- Monasticism, Differentiation and Secularization: Talcott Parsons and the Catholic ‘Monastic Movement’ in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries 79
- Negotiating the Boundaries between Religion and Science in the Abbasid Empire 105
- Religious and Secular in Premodern Islam and Christianity 125
-
Part II Colonial Boundaries: Religion, Culture, and “Middle Things”
- King, Messiah, and Culture in the Making of Zulu Secularity 157
- The “Middle Things”. Differentiating between the Religious Spheres in Indian and African Mission Contexts in the Nineteenth Century 189
- Beyond Non-Catholic/Catholic (Luong/Giao) Separation: Missionary Expansion and Divergent Manifestations of Religious Differentiation in Colonial Vietnam 213
-
Part III Competing Epistemes: Lessons Learned From Asia
- The Autonomy of Science vis-a-vis Religion: Amitav Ghosh’s The Calcutta Chromosome as a Theoretical Counter-Narrative to the Western Master Narrative of Functional Differentiation 239
- Global Translations: Conceptualizing Differentiations Between ‘Religion’ and ‘Science’ in Thailand and the Philippines in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries 271
- Demarcating Religion: On the Varying Ways of Conceptualizing Social Differentiation in Japanese History 301
- Rethinking the Place of Religion and Worldviews in Differentiation Theory: A Historical Comparison between Chinese and European Societies 329
-
Part IV Programmatic Proposals: Differentiation Theory and the Sociology of Religion and Secularity
- The Fragmentation of the Sacred: An Alternative Narrative of Western Modernity 359
- Rigid Differentiation Theory and Flexible Sociology of Religion? 379
- After Autonomy. Relationships between Art and Religion in Nineteenth Century Germany and their Implications for Differentiation Theory 407
- Beyond Normative Binaries: Neutral Zones as Precursors and Starting Points of Secularity 437
- The Authors 467
