Abstract
This chapter examines the dynamics of religion and spirituality by noting that historically religions have always been preeminently contexts for the assertion of system power, whereas spiritualities focus on the empowerment of actors – spiritualities are constructed by participant actors rather than engaged as external systems for the allocation of divine favor or power. Thus spirituality is not a residual category when religion fails to hold its power base among a population, but an autonomous category for the construction of meaning and value outside the societal power structure.
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Pace, E. (2011). Spirituality and Systems of Belief. In: Giordan, G., Swatos, Jr., W. (eds) Religion, Spirituality and Everyday Practice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1819-7_2
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