• Use three theories of culture to interpret the cartoon shown today.

• Explain Geertz’s definition of religion using examples from any two traditions.

• What is ideology? Explain using examples from today’s cartoon and song.

1

7. Culture + Power

2

Today

• Announcements

• Field Research Analysis

• Finish: Culture

• Start: Power

3 4

GRENADA

SPAIN

CENTRAL EUROPEAUSTRALIA

IRELAND ITALY

PORTUGAL

FRANCEENGLAND

GERMANY GREECEGEORGIA

SOUTH AFRICA

2018

CHINA ECUADOR

SOUTH KOREA

Earn 1.0 full-year U of T credit in 3 to 6 weeks!

UTM Information SessionWednesday, October 25

from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm

(Drop-in advising from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm)

Council Chambers, Davis Building, Room 3130

Visit us at

www.summerabroad.utoronto.ca

2018

Summer AbroadInfo Session

Oct. 25, 1-3pmDV3130

(Council Chambers)

5

UTM Film Festival

Oct. 25 in CCTReception 6pmScreening 7pm

6

Historical Studies Societypresents 

95  Theses 500th Anniversary

Discussion Panel

Featuring Professors

Cowan, Petrakos

and Derry

October 27th 2 to 3 PM in IB 120

@HSS.UTM

@HSS.UTM@HSS.UTM

utmhss.weebly. com

Martin Luther: 95 Theses Discussion PanelFriday, October 27, 2-3pm in IB120

• Final film analysis: tonight!

• 3rd online discussion comment: also tonight!

• Field Research contract: Friday!

7

Deadlines

• Bb: contract + instructions + rubric

➡ Soon: advice + sample paragraphs

• Attend a religious ritual with your group

➡ Best to know as little as possible

➡ Contact site ahead of time

➡ Take selfie of group at religious site (inside or outside)

8

Field Research Analysis

• Attend a religious ritual

➡ Best to know as little as possible

➡ Not your own religion

➡ Not a religion you’ve studied or know much about

• Analyze observations using Nye’s text

➡ Culture OR power OR gender

9

Field Research Analysis

10

Final Exam

• Use three theories of culture to interpret the cartoon shown today.

• Explain Geertz’s definition of religion using examples from any two traditions.

• What is ideology? Explain using examples from today’s cartoon and song.

Culture!

11

• What is “culture”?

➡ Everything!

• What do we study (when we study culture)?

➡ Everything!

• Religions change over time, culture, etc.

➡ Three Christianities; Muslim bride in Bulgaria

12

Culture: Review

Culture

• Culture / religion is NEVER static:

➡ Syncretism (hybridity) = mix of different cultures / religions (e.g., James Clifford)

➡ New circumstances/ideas/technology(not necessarily the same as hybridity)

➡ Result of mixing is often hard to understand / predict

➡ May be very POSITIVE13 14

In Praise of Mixed Religion

by William Harrison

15 16

17 18

Spider-Man 219 20

21 22

23 24

25

#MuslimRage

• NO BEEF PEPPERONI AT PIZZA HUT?! #MuslimRage

• my dad when Pakistan's cricket team loses #MuslimRage

• no WiFi in the mosque #MuslimRage

• Lost your kid “Jihad” at the airport. Can't yell for him. #MuslimRage

26

27

Anchored by a strong Jewish identity and driven by a mission to connect Jews around the globe with their heritage through music, professional

Jewish a cappella group Six13 are the originators of today’s Jewish a cappella sound.

28

Syncretism/Hybridity

• Your field research: which elements seem “traditional” and which seem “Canadian”?

➡ What might this mean?

• Examples of possible “Canadian” cultural elements?

➡ Use your judgement, make a reasonable case why something might not be “traditional” to the religion

29 30

31 32

Indigenous? Non-Indigenous?language? language?

drum clothing

blankets coffee cup + water bottles

natural items on blanket jar on blanket

feather video camera

plants in pan + bowl frying pan

location folding chair

33

Indigenous? Non-Indigenous?language? language?

drum clothing

blankets coffee cup + water bottles

natural items on blanket jar on blanket

feather video camera

plants in pan + bowl frying pan

location folding chair

Descriptive Paragraph

• Topic sentences:

➡ Ceremony included what seemed to be Indigenous elements (artificial items) and non-Indigenous elements (natural items)

• Rest of paragraph:

➡ Describe which items fit which category (Ind. or non-Ind.) and how they were used in the ceremony

34

Analytical Paragraph

• Topic sentences:

➡ Identify the theory you will analyze the data with (e.g., syncretism/hybridity)

• Rest of paragraph:

➡ Explain theory

➡ Use theory to analyze your observations (i.e., what do you think your observations might mean?)

35

Culture

• Not so useful theories for assignment:

➡ Culture is what people do (Hall)

➡ Each group has its own culture (Tylor)

➡ Religion can also create divisions (Nye)

➡ Religion as “social glue” (Durkheim)

36

Culture

37

• Possibly useful theories for assignment:

➡ Sub-cultures and resistance (Hebdige)

➡ Power: popular vs. elite (Williams/Hall)

➡ Change/hybridity/syncretism (various)

➡ Religion = society (Durkheim)

➡ Religion = symbols, factuality, etc. (Geertz)

38

39

Culture

40

• Possibly useful theories for assignment:

➡ Sub-cultures and resistance (Hebdige)

➡ Power: popular vs. elite (Williams/Hall)

➡ Change/hybridity/syncretism (various)

➡ Religion = society (Durkheim)

➡ Religion = symbols, factuality, etc. (Geertz)

41 42

Clifford Geertz: Religion is a “system of symbols, which acts to establish powerful,

pervasive, and long lasting moods and motivations in men [people] by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing those

conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely

realistic.” (Nye p. 47)

43

Man: “And Scotty beamed them to the Klingon ship, where they would be no tribble at all.”

Everyone: “All power to the engines.”

44

naturalistic anecdote it’s the details that sell your story

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

45 46

Bhagavad Gita

Jesus: “And these signs will accompany those who believe: by using my name they will cast out

demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes in their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them.”

(Mark 16:17-18)

47 48

Power!

49

Power1. General

• Overview

2. Theories:

• Concern with social justice; work towards greater equity

• Marx, Gramsci, Althusser, Foucault

50

Power

• Power: social, political, economic

• Power relations exist in all human communities and institutions

➡ Including religion!

➡ (No special treatment by scholars)

51

Power

• Assignment:

1. Power relations WITHIN a religion (always apparent)

2. Power relations BETWEEN religion and larger society (sometimes apparent)

52

Power

• Power relations are complex➡ Power is not inherently “bad”

➡ Create, sustain power

➡ Subvert, resist power

➡ People / institutions with power in some contexts may NOT have power in others

➡ RLG101H?

53

Power

54

• Not so useful theories for assignment:

➡ Althusser: interpellation (66-67)

➡ Weber: economics (69-70)

Power

55

• Possibly useful theories for assignment:

➡ Marx: religion as ideology (58-60)

➡ Gramsci: hegemony and counter-hegemony (60-65)

➡ Althusser: repressive and ideological state apparatuses (65-66)

➡ Foucault: panopticon (71-73) and power, knowledge, discourse (74-76)

Marx

• Ideology: “makes the rule by one group over another appear ‘natural’ and unquestionable” (p. 59)

• Power as natural / obvious

➡ Examples?

➡ Markers: e.g., spaces, buildings, clothing, titles, age, gender, etc.

➡ Theories of ideology: critique/expose it56

57 58

59 60

61 62