Demarcating Religion: On the Varying Ways of Conceptualizing Social Differentiation in Japanese History
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Christoph Kleine
Abstract
This paper takes a longue-durée perspective to show the different ways in which the Japanese have, in the course of history, identified a social sub-area that can be retrospectively (perhaps anachronistically) regarded as “religion.” In doing so, it makes a strong case that the classification of socially organized human activities serves specific purposes, and therefore varies greatly depending on the discursive context in which it occurs. In Japan, we find a variety of modes of distinction and classification that (from a modern perspective) distinguish “religion” from other integral activity bundles. Traditions that we consider to be religions, or that have evolved into religions in global modernity, have been defined as systems of cognitive and normative orientation, as nomospheres, as socio-cultural formations, as fields of knowledge, and as objects of law. With Japan’s entry into global modernity, we find, for the first time, a systematic juxtaposition of religion, on the one hand, with the state, science, or philosophy, on the other. An outstanding example of Japanese intellectuals’ appropriation of a globalized modern knowledge regime, with its division of social subsystems, is provided by the author Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō, in his early work “New Theory of Religion,” from 1896. This text will be analysed in more detail, in an exploration of the historical continuities and discontinuities in the interpretation of social differentiation in Japan.
Abstract
This paper takes a longue-durée perspective to show the different ways in which the Japanese have, in the course of history, identified a social sub-area that can be retrospectively (perhaps anachronistically) regarded as “religion.” In doing so, it makes a strong case that the classification of socially organized human activities serves specific purposes, and therefore varies greatly depending on the discursive context in which it occurs. In Japan, we find a variety of modes of distinction and classification that (from a modern perspective) distinguish “religion” from other integral activity bundles. Traditions that we consider to be religions, or that have evolved into religions in global modernity, have been defined as systems of cognitive and normative orientation, as nomospheres, as socio-cultural formations, as fields of knowledge, and as objects of law. With Japan’s entry into global modernity, we find, for the first time, a systematic juxtaposition of religion, on the one hand, with the state, science, or philosophy, on the other. An outstanding example of Japanese intellectuals’ appropriation of a globalized modern knowledge regime, with its division of social subsystems, is provided by the author Suzuki Daisetsu Teitarō, in his early work “New Theory of Religion,” from 1896. This text will be analysed in more detail, in an exploration of the historical continuities and discontinuities in the interpretation of social differentiation in Japan.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- 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
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- 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
