Abstract
There are four basic types of church-state relations: eradication, monopoly, oligopoly, and pluralism. State regulations may ban all religions, protect only one religion, allow for several religions, or treat all religions equally. The existing literature has focused almost exclusively on monopoly and pluralism. However, the most prevalent type in the world today is neither monopoly nor pluralism but oligopoly. This Chapter argues that it is necessary to distinguish between oligopoly and pluralism in order to understand better the changing dynamics of church-state relations in the modern world. It is also necessary to distinguish between pluralism and plurality in theoretical construction. Moreover, these distinctions necessitate a definition of religion, a duty that social scientists of religion can no longer evade.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Eileen Barker in a 2003 article discussed the impacts of the pluralistic society on individuals’ belief, behavior, and belongings.
References
Barker, Eileen. 2003. And the wisdom to know the difference? Freedom, control and the sociology of religion. Sociology of Religion 64(3): 285–307.
Beckford, James A. 2003. Social theory and religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Beckford, James A. 2010. Religious pluralism and diversity: Response to Yang and Thériault. Social Compass 57(2): 217–223.
Berger, Peter. 1967. The sacred canopy: Elements of a sociological theory of religion. Garden City: Doubleday.
Berger, Peter. 1970. A rumor of angels: Modern society and the rediscovery of the supernatural. Garden City: Anchor Books.
Berger, Peter (ed.). 1999. The desecularization of the world: Resurgent religion and world politics. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans.
Berger, Peter, Grace Davie, and Effie Fokas. 2008. Religious America, secular Europe? A theme and variations. Hampshire: Ashgate.
Durkheim, Emile. 2001. The elementary forms of religious life. New York: Oxford University Press.
Grim, Brian J., and Roger Finke. 2006. International religion indexes: Government regulation, government favoritism, and social regulation of religion. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research on Religion 2(2006): article 1.
Hemeyer, Julia Corbett. 2009. Religion in America, 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
Melton, J. Gordon. 2009. Encyclopedia of American religions, 8th ed. Detroit: Gale.
Stark, Rodney, and Roger Finke. 2000. Acts of faith: Explaining the human side of religion. Berkeley/Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Warner, R. Stephen. 1993. Work in progress toward a new paradigm for the sociological study of religion in the United States. American Journal of Sociology 98(1993): 1044–1093.
Warner, R. Stephen. 2003. More progress on the new paradigm. In Sacred markets, sacred canopies: Essays on religious markets and religious pluralism, ed. Ted G. Jelen, 1–32. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
Weber, Max. 1963. The sociology of religion. Boston: Beacon.
Wuthnow, Robert. 2004. Presidential address 2003: The challenge of diversity. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43(2): 159–170.
Yang, Fenggang. 2010. Oligopoly dynamics: Consequences of religious regulation. Social Compass 57(2): 194–205.
Yang, Fenggang. 2012. Religion in China: Survival and revival under communist rule. New York: Oxford University Press.
Yang, Fenggang. 2013. A research agenda on religious freedom in China. The Review of Faith and International Affairs 11(2): 6–17.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yang, F. (2014). Oligopoly Is Not Pluralism. In: Giordan, G., Pace, E. (eds) Religious Pluralism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06623-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06623-3_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-06622-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-06623-3
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawPhilosophy and Religion (R0)