bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Policy for Language Education in England: Does Less Mean More?
Authors: Thompson Linda
Published: March 2007

This paper details major and significant developments in the teaching of English to pupils aged 5-16 years in the school system in England, the years of compulsory education.

To begin with definitions of terms. There are four aspects of language education provision that pertain in England:

1. the teaching of English as the mother tongue;

2. the teaching of English as an Additional Language (EAL);

3. the teaching of other languages: community (CL) and

4. modem foreign languages (MFL).

This paper addresses 1, 2 and 3.

Throughout the nomenclature reflects that of the public documents that have outlined the details of provision. It is hoped this reflects changing attitudes, policy and provision of the teaching of EMT, EAL and CLs within mainstream education in England.

There is no formal policy for language education in England (PLEE). Official views on the type and nature of language education, including which languages are to be taught, and by implication, the opposite, which are to be omitted from the official curriculum, are gleaned from a range of curriculum policy documents (listed in Appendix A). The absence of a formal language policy statement can be understood as a statement by omission. This paper will explore the implications of this absence and pose the question: does less policy lead to more language education?
Expressing Doubt and Certainty in English
Authors: Holmes Janet
Published: March 2007

Learning to express and interpret epistemic modality (degrees of certainty) is not an easy task for learners of English as a second language. The paper discusses three sources of poten tial difficulty: the problem of establishing the precise degree of certainty expressed by particular linguistic forms; the range of linguistic devices available for signalling this aspect of meaning; and the interaction of different types of meaning in different contexts. Some suggestions are provided which may assist second language learners wishing to develop competence in expressing and interpreting degrees of certainty and conviction in English.
Fossilization in Second Language Acquisition: An Inter-Model View
Authors: Tollefson James W. , Firn James T.
Published: March 2007

This article' details the explanatory value and inadequacies of three main categories of models proposed to explain fossilization in second language acquisition: interactional models, acculturation models, and biological models. It is argued that difficulties with ex isting accounts of fossilization are due to their failure to distinguish two types of fossilization. Such a distinction is proposed here, along with a change in the terminology of research on fossilization. Finally, a unified account of fossilization is proposed that incorporates com ponents from the three existing models and that explains a broad range of fossilization phenomena.
Error Awareness and Advanced EFL Learner's Performance
Authors: Tahririan M.H.
Published: March 2007

This research was conducted to observe the role of error-awareness in the advanced EFL learner's performance. * The performance of 22 subjects on six separate tasks in the course of a four-month period was studied. After each task was evaluated, the subjects were made aware of the areas of the English language in which they had pro blems and were encouraged to improve their writing. The analysis of the data showed no statistically significant change from the first to the sixth task in the subjects' performance. The conclusions support the systematicity of the interlanguage of advanced FL learners and the existence of a plateau stage before a native-like level of perfor mance is developed, particularly for those who learn the language in a non-native speaking environment.
Language and Education in Hong Kong: New Policies but Unresolved Problems
Authors: Kwo Ora , Bray Mark
Published: March 2007

The debate on the balance between English and Chinese as media of instruction in Hong Kong schools has a long history, and in many ways resembles the language debates of other countries. En couraged by both the pedagogic arguments in favour of mother- tongue learning and by political forces, the government has recently announced a new policy to promote the place of Chinese. The new policy has inherent contradictions, however, which will limit its ef fectiveness. It will certainly not end the debate.
Towards a Contextual Lexico-grammar: An Application of Concordance Analysis in EST Teaching
Authors: Wu Hui Hua
Published: March 2007

The investigation reported in this paper is a small-scale but in-depth study branching from a comparative analysis of the lexico-grammatical behaviour of verbs in general English and engineering texts (Wu 1989). In order to confirm some of the interesting lexical and syntactic features of engineering discourse observed in the previous investigation, this study further examines the associated features that characterize engineering text to see whether they co-occur frequently enough to distinguish "engineer ing English" as a recognizable "genre". The discussion also explores the implications these findings have for ESP (English for Specific Purposes) teaching, especially in the area of teaching lexis.
In Praise of Linguistic Problem-Solving
Authors: Bourke James M
Published: March 2007

The article looks at problem-solving as a means of internalising second language grammar. Problem-solving in this context refers to a type of learning that is conscious, inductive, and heuristic. In the problem-solving framework, as outlined in this paper, grammar learning is thought of in terms of two complementary processes, viz. 'rule-getting' and 'rule-using'.

The problem-solving procedure commences with problem-posing, and proceeds through'data analysis, hypothesis forming and testing, and frequent rule re-structuring, to the final rule formulation. This is followed by 'rule-using', a dynamic process in which rules are constantly being reformulated and form-function correlations are being worked out.

Contrary to Sheen (1992), who dismisses problem-solving as "a seductive hypothesis", the author argues that linguistic problem- solving should play a key role in second language learning, especially in the case adult L2 learners.)
La démocratie chrétienne en Europe comme expression politique des religions chrétiennes: essor et déclin (1945-2000)
Authors: LAMBERTS Emiel
Published: March 2007

Immediately after the Second World War, Christian Democracy became the most important political expression of Christianity (especially Catholicism) in western Europe. It found a favourable breeding-ground in the religious revival and the increased prestige of the Christian churches. It was able, after the defeat and discredit of fascism, to integrate in its ranks most of the political right. Its position of power was henceforth dependent on its ability to keep the right tied to it. In most countries, this turned out to be an impossible task. Moreover, from the 1960s onwards, Christian churches (including the Catholic Church) began to change their socio-political orientation, concentrating their attention on “civil” rather than on “political” society. Consequently, Christian Democracy declined in the last decades of the 20th century. Nevertheless, it has exerted a great influence on western European society, in political, socio-economic and socio-cultural life.
Queer Spirituality
Authors: BARDELLA Claudio
Published: March 2007

Liberation theologies have been developed from a multiplicity of approaches. This article analyses the “liberation theology” of the “queer”, that is, theological efforts to recontextualize the metaphysical dimension of homosexuality. An elaboration of “gay community”, as well as of the applicability of the label “queer”, is proposed in order to frame the examination of what constitutes Queer Spiritual Discourse. This umbrella term contains two related theological efforts, developed in recent decades by gay and lesbian theologians and intellectuals, that attempt to provide a specific hermeneutics either of biblical texts or of other religious traditions. Queer Theology reinterprets stories and characters from within the Judaeo-Christian tradition, whereas Gay Soul constructs alternative interpretations of ancient indigenous religious systems. The author also sketches some of the areas where the secular, the political, the theological, and the personal intersect.
Mission et économie: la gestion rédemptoriste du Vicariat de Reyes (Bolivie)
Authors: LAMBERT Arthur
Published: March 2007

The first social organization to be introduced from abroad to this Bolivian Amazonian territory, today in the region of the Vicariate of Reyes, was the Reduction. After 1767 came the time of administrators and priests from Santa Cruz. The civil society has kept some aspects of the former economic system based on reciprocity and redistribution. But in reality, the economic conquest of these territories produced, as a consequence, domination and unimaginable suffering for the Amerindians. Since 1942, the Redemptorists have led a pastoral work in this area called either “paradise” or “green hell” depending on who is speaking about it. The author describes the evangelization modalities and recent social changes induced by diverse migrations. He analyses the monetary problems and different concepts of reciprocity exchange in an economic context moving towards capitalism.
L'“Evangelio”: Pentecôtisme Indigène dans le Chaco Argentin
Authors: WRIGHT Pablo G.
Published: March 2007

After Elmer Miller's classic work on Toba Pentecostalism appeared in the early 1960s, studies of the emergence of indigenous churches in the Gran Chaco region of Argentina began to multiply. This interest led researchers to identify a number of socio-religious phenomena in connection with anthropology in the Chaco region, suggesting new themes and new conceptual approaches. The author synthesizes some of the main theoretical trends developed for the purpose of analyzing these phenomena and the conceptual challenges and problems to which they have given rise. He also describes the main questions addressed since 1954, including the relations between Christianity and shamanism, indigenous interpretations of the Bible, discourse, temporality and historicity, and the connections between myth and history. Finally, the author outlines possible directions for research within the wider perspective of religious studies in an intercultural context.
Factors Influencing Hostility towards Controversial Religious Groups
Authors: DOKTÓR Tadeusz
Published: March 2007

The results of a research project conducted by questionnaire among a representative sample of 1041 Polish people over 15 years of age indicate that hostility towards controversial religious groups (Jehovah's Witnesses, Hare Krishnas and Satanists) is related to certain elements of their image (as intolerant, dishonest, unfriendly or creating a threat to society). Respondents spontaneously used the word “sect” in relation to the group (most frequently in the case of Satanists); they relied on the teaching of the Church for information. Their hostility was also linked to religious authoritarianism. Personal acquaintance with members of these religious groups, and reference to information via the media, reduced this hostility, but only in case of Hare Krishnas.
Géographie De La Pratique Religieuse En Espagne
Authors: Duocastella Rogelio
Published: March 2007

This is the first time that all the enquiries and censuses carried out in Spain in respect of the principal manifestations of institutionalized religious practrce, as well as in respect of various other indications of religious vitality, have been collected together, for example attendance at Mass, observation of Easter, vocational indices, the numbers of priests and monks, enquiries in respect of religious outlook, and all this is expressed within a historical and socio-economical framework, which tests and explains it, and gives a clear picture of the Spanish Church, with the object of achieving an overall view of the Spanish religious scene. The author has had to overcome great difficulties in order to select the basic material necessary for this attempt at synthesis. In spite of this, the reader is given a key to the complexities of the present condition of the religious observance of the Spanish people.
Valeurs Religieuses En Milieu Urbain: Formulation D'Hypothèses
Authors: Prades J.A.
Published: March 2007

The topic has been approached from two angles — the sociological, which leads to some interpretation of modern society, and the socio-reli gious, which lays emphasis primarily on religious factors. The empirical basis of the article is to be found in the considerable work which has been produced by the Centre de Recherches Socio-Religieuses of Louvain, particularly that of its Director, Chanoine Fr. Houtart.

The first part of the article contains an outline of the conceptual scheme; in this an attempt has been made to clarify the concepts of urban environ ment and religious values. As far as the first is concerned it could be said that on the basis of three different criteria (statistical, functional, and relations with global society) one could suggest two primary types of urban environment.

In the case of religious values, starting from an 'approximate' concept and guided by the work of Talcott Parsons, it is possible to distinguish a definite type of religious value concept. This the author has called 'personal responsibility'.

In the second part of the article, the author has proposed a hypothetical framework of relations between the two variables in question. If the religious value is taken as the fundamental variable then the principal object of analysis will be the influence of the urban environment on religious values.

In the third part of the article the author has set out to indicate some ways of approaching a new formulation and deeper nsaderstanding of the problem. Particularly important is the necessity, amidst all the phenomena to be considered, and the desirability of interpreting it correctly, to distinguish the sociological point of view from the theological and religious.

The author concludes by stating the necessity of introducing an under standing of religious values into sociology, i.e. the development of a sociology of the Christian ethic, in order to promote the development of the sociology of Christianity and the sociology of religion.
Recherches et débats / Research and debate
Authors: Kadlecová Erika
Published: March 2007

The following article is published in order to show readers of Social Compass the type of socio-religious investigation, which is being conducted in Eastern Europe. This article has been sent by the Academy of Science of Czechoslovakia.
Structural and cultural changes in the Dutch Franciscan Province
Authors: Baan M.A.
Published: March 2007

Cet article est un résumé d'une thèse parue il y a peu en langue néer landaise et qui traite de la sociologie des ordres religieux et des congré gations. C'est le compte-rendu d'une recherche empirique effectuée à l'intérieur de la Province néerlandaise des frères mineurs et qui a trait aux changements structurels et culturels survenus depuis la moitié du siècle dernier. L'étude comprend deux parties. La première traite des changements externes et internes qui ont motivé et motivent encore toujours les changements structurels et culturels. La seconde partie est consacrée de manière explicite à ces changements sociaux, dont certains sont adoptés de manière consciente et dont d'autres par contre se sont réalisés lentement et inconsciemment. Les changements externes se rapportent aux changements du 'milieu' étudié. Les changements internes ont trait, entre autres choses, aux changements survenus dans le nombre de membres, dans leur structure par âge, dans la répartition géographique, le niveau d'éducation, les activités, les capacités, les aspirations, les besoins, etc.... En un sens, ce sont les changements externes qui sont les plus importants: ils ne sont pas seulement 'co-responsables' des changements internes, mais également des changements sociaux.
Attitude envers la religion et l'Eglise en Autriche Enquête auprès des soldats de l'armée autrichienne
Authors: Fischer H. , Holl A.
Published: March 2007

The authors wanted to investigate the structure of attitudes towards the church and religion in Austria. In particular, it seemed desirable a) to clarify the concept of religiosity on empirical grounds; b) to investigate the relations between religiosity and personality traits; c) to find deter minants for religious activities; d) to examine the role of the church and the clergy in regard to religiosity and religious activities.

417 soldiers, most of them Catholics, of the Military Force in Austria were asked to fill out both a questionnaire on attitudes towards the church and religion (178 items) and a personality-test questionnaire. The data were processed by factor-analysis, which brought nine inter pretable factors.

Religiosity was found to form one factor with nearly no relations to personality traits, except a correlation of 0.38 between religiosity and conservatism. Religiosity was shown to be only one of two dominant motives for church-going; equally important for church-going is the factor 'social contact', which shows the influence of social learning on religious activities. The church is considered both as ecclesiastical machinery with bureaucratic elements, and as an institution, which guarantees the moral standards of the society. Clergy are seen as re presentatives of the church as a big organization on the one hand, and as counselors on the other.

The sample showed in general rather favourable opinions of the church and religion; an attitude which was interpreted as 'friendly distance'.
L'appartenance religieuse comme expression de structures cuturelles latentes: probème de méthode
Authors: Remy J. , Hambye F.
Published: March 2007

In the present age, the progress of our knowledge concerning the forms of religious membership depend less on more precise instruments for measuring behaviour and explicit beliefs than on hypotheses derived from sociology of knowledge and of culture. This implies in its turn the in vention of new techniques, where the possibilities of interviewing are criticized.

We were faced with the question in our work with F. Boulard: comparing the results of the census of Sunday Mass attendance in the majority of French towns. This change in scale in relation to monographic analyses has brought to light a link between religious observance and the cultural structure of the group, that is to say collective cultural patterns pro gressively formed in the course of history and transmitted in a quasi- hereditary fashion.

This leads us to propose the following hypotheses: religious behaviour is an expression in daily life, of implicit cultural patterns, which direct the believer to diverse behaviour and beliefs. These cultural patterns operate even if they are unknown, They are transmitted independently. Thus the social efficacy of religion would be due to its insertion in latent cultural structures and to unconscious transmission. A religious crisis would be more serious if it results from an evolution of these latent cul tural patterns. This affects the conception of the person who through an original work, tries to express, and even to invent in an unconscious way, these collective patterns.

In order to verify these hypotheses, it seems important to detect several levels of interpersonal communication and examine the extent to which they are in continuity or not. Such was our aim in two research studies. One, entitled 'Analysis of the ideology of students at the University of Louvain', attemps to compare religious membership arising from criteria defined by authority, the church as a reference group, religious and ideological evaluation of oneself and one's environment, various stereo types of social life, as also some future projects dealing with criteria around which worlds of plausibility are organized. The other study at tempts to compare three types of languages: the results of a classical type of interview; a projective test (the construction of an ideal town) analysed by a structural method; the commentary made by the subject on his projection.
Un temple de grande ville et la population religieuse flottante
Authors: Fuj Masao
Published: March 2007

What are the problems facing Japanese Buddhism in an urban society where the place of religious institutions has rapidly altered and where since the War tremendous movements of population have taken place ? In order to try and answer this question, the author has studied the running of a public cemetery in Yokohama and of the temple attached to it.

He examines the way the new-comers get in contact with the temple and what services they except of it ; from this, how the relationship is established between the temple and the community and what measure of solidarity is achieved.

With the help of this work, he then goes on to question future trends in religious loyalty and allegiance, and how the changes in residence and the passing of older generations will effect the funeral cult and the care of the tombs. With faith less and less supported by bonds of kinship and with couples becoming more and more independent, the temples should be recognising the importance of the development of personal faith.

And, it is equally true that the work of the temples themselves and the role the y pla y needs revision ; they are far too dependant on the funeral cult which is no longer an effective way of creating links with a mobile and urban society.
Modes et indices d'identification juive
Authors: Rabi W.
Published: March 2007

What is the Jewish identity ? What determines it ? Can it be defined in rational terms ? Have the Jews themselves any clear idea of it ? May it be identified as a religious faith, a social condition, a historic destiny or as an ethnic solidarity ? By what sort of objective criteria could it be analysed ?

In the following article the author, taking evidence from research carried out mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries and the work currently being conducted in France, shows how be haviour which was previously of purely religious significance developed into external signs of identification and, in the end, has become secularized. At the present time, collective religious practices exist alongside collective practices which are secular ized or simply secular. The Jewish condition in the West in particular is becoming such that it appears impossible simply to retain only religious criteria because of the polymorphous character of the real Jewish world. Finally, the author em phasizes the will to survive to await the coming of the Sa viour. But to what end ?
Judaism and Secularization
Authors: Raphaël Freddy , Hickey John
Published: March 2007

Pour étudier les relations entre judaisme et « cité séculière », il faut se placer dans une double perspective. La première est l'interprétation théologique de l'histoire du peuple juif. Elle a des incidences importantes sur les conceptions du temps et de l'espace. Tout le peuple est engagé au service d'une idée im personnelle et il ne s'érige pas en absolu. Le judaisme — re connaissant Dieu pour seul souverain — est essentiellement une « sacralisation » du monde. Ce monde a une réalité tem porelle. Il est temps et histoire.

Le judaïsme est aussi une « sacralisation » du temps, car c'est celle de la rédemption active. C'est quand le peuple suc comba à la tentative du veau d'or qu'il reçut l'ordre d'édifier un tabernacle, symbole de la sainteté de l'espace.

Le judaisme est « sacralisation de l'histoire ». Les événe ments célébrés ne sont pas de simples anniversaires récurrents, mais des étapes dans une maturation et une progression dans l'alliance entre le Créateur et la créature. Dans une telle pers pective, le monde est un chantier où Dieu et l'homme ceuvrent ensemble.

La deuxième perspective est celle du judaïsme comme com munauté historique et sociologique. Trois forces jouent dans le sens d'une sécularisation. D'abord le ghetto, comme évasion et refus de confrontation avec le siècle, c'est-à-dire le refus de coopérer avec Dieu dans la transformation du monde pour hâter l'avènement du Royaume. Ce ghetto signifie, d'une part, le désintérêt du reste de l'humanité et, d'autre part, l'absolu tisation du particularisme.

Ensuite l'intégration dans la société globale est force de sé cularisation, car elle signifie la perte de la relation dialectique entre judaïsme et monde (non-coincidence).

Emancipation et assimilation renforcent la sécularisation, et cela aboutit à la confessionnalisation du judaïsme (réduit à une religion). Le phénomène d'urbanisation joue très fort sur cette forme de sécularisation.

Enfin, le nationalisme est aussi une forme de sécularisation. Il s'est produit dans l'histoire par la royauté « pour être comme toutes les nations ». Aujourd'hui il prend aussi la forme du sionisme politique, malgré les avertissements de théoriciens sionistes, tels A. Haarn et M. Buber. La seule façon pour l'Etat d'Israël de ne pas devenir un ghetto hissé au niveau de la modernité est de dépasser la dialectique du politique et du spirituel.
L'Eglise Orthodoxe grecque et le messianisme en Afrique
Authors: Hatzimichali Nectaire
Published: March 2007

The author of this article has taken up, on one hand, the problem of the ideology of Greek missionaries in Africa and, on the other, the influence of African nationalistic and messianic factors in the reception of orthodoxy as a means of religious expression of the natives.

The implantation of orthodoxy in Africa does not result from an organized missionary effort but rather from the historical encounter of Greek orthodox messianism with its African homologue. The Greek missionaries, faithful to the Byzantine schema of a close link between religion and nation, contributed to a highlighting of the meaning of the struggles for independence. This was the case especially in Uganda and Kenya. In the case of Zaire, on the other hand, orthodoxy was only implanted after the proclamation of independence. It was positively received because Greek orthodox messianism, centered on the spiritual, corresponded to the expectations inspired by the prophetic movement of Simon Kibangu.
Chretiens pour le Socialisme et Action Catholique Ouvrière
Authors: Rousseau André
Published: March 2007

The author of this article tries to point out, in the present fragmentation of the socio-religious movements which are at work in French Catholicism, the complex interplay of social, political and religious factors.

He thus proposes the first elements for an answer to the questions posed by some observers concerning the recent (selective and limited) migration of French Catholics towards socialism. How much importance should be given in the analysis to the type of social background from which the different movements of "left-oriented Christians" are re cruited ?

The author proceeds in three steps :

1. What are the socio-economical aspect of the divisions which are at work in French Catholicism ?

2. The genesis of the movement of the Chrétiens pour le socia lisme and the conflicts of tendencies therein are analysed through its conflicts with the Action Catholique Ouvrière.

3. The analysis of the relevant characteristics of these conflicts does not base itself upon ethical choices, but builds on the modes of negotiation used by the ACO (which is deve loping a " strategy of recognition") on the one hand, and the CPS (who are developing diverse practices of " sym bolic dissidence") on the other.
Dimensions of Religiosity in Modern Society
Authors: Drehsen Volker
Published: March 2007

Dans un premier temps, la sociologie de la religion et de l'Eglise de langue allemande s'est caractérisée par une attitude de réception et de critique à l'égard du courant structuro fonctionaliste d'origine américaine. Dans un second temps, elle a multiplié et élargi ses investigations au-delà d'une vision strictement ecclésiale. On peut dire enfin qu'après ces phases, on approche maintenant des premiers essais de systématisation où l'on peut observer une cristallisation systématique dans les trois domaines suivants :
Quelques formes de «piété politique» en Suisse
Authors: Saurma Adalbert
Published: March 2007

In this article, the author tries to apply the somewhat odd notion of «political devotion» to a few Swiss cases, some of which are of a historical nature. In this way, he hopes to revive the debate on political-religious matters which has unfortunately been dried out as a result of the over-simple modern distinction bet ween Church and State. The author then wants to give a functio nal description of individual situations and the behaviour- responses they have induced. The most frequent way in which situations are interpreted while being simplified consists in the «common sense» approach of political devotion.

Finally, the development of political devotion has been «cap tured» in some of its historical forms using inductive typology: from the devotion which characterizes the small territories of pri mitive Switzerland, marked by its relationship with nature, one moves to patriotic devotion and lastly to present-day civil theolo gies.
Popular Culture, Religion and Everyday Life
Authors: Lalive d'Epinay Christian , Alexander Daniel , Clemence Alain , Lazega Emmanuel , Modak Marianne
Published: March 2007

Cet article présente quelques résultats d'une recherche sur la population de 65 ans et plus du Valais central (pays catholique, région périphérique, semi-rurale et montagnarde) et du canton de Genève (région de tradition protestante et situation urbaine). Les résultats obtenus d'une enquête par questionnaire auprès de deux échantillons aléatoires de 800 personnes chacun mettent en lumière le contraste entre la position monopolistique occupée par l'Eglise catholique auprès de cette génération dans le contexte rural, et l'absence d'emprise des Eglises chrétiennes sur la même génération, en milieu urbain.

Constatant ainsi le caractère nucléaire de l'adhésion reli gieuse dans le premier cas, et son caractère contingent dans le second, les Auteurs cherchent alors à situer la religion dans le système symbolique («l'image-action») de la classe populaire typi que de chacun de ces contextes: paysanne en Valais, ouvrière à Genève. Ils utilisent alors un autre matériel: les récits de vie- centrés sur la vie actuelle - récoltés auprès d'un sous-échantillon de 150 personnes.

Ils concluent que dans la société industrielle-urbaine, l'absence d'une explication significative de la question du sens est, de fait, l'élément partagé. Pour cette cohorte de personnes âgées, l'évidence partagée ne réside plus dans une explication, mais dans un constat, concret et précaire, lié à une expérience quotidienne: je vis, de cela je suis sûr, même si je ne me sens plus tout à fait des vivants.
Some Religious Developments in the Netherlands (1947-1979) as Documented by a Few Surveys and Census Data
Authors: Goddijn Walter
Published: March 2007

Les études statistiques, sociographiques et sociologiques con cernant la religion parvinrent à une apogée sans précédent aux Pays-Bas durant la période immédiatement ultérieure à la Seconde Guerre Mondiale. Ce furent les Pays-Bas qui prirent la responsa bilité d'initiatives comme la création de la Fédération Internatio nale des Instituts de Recherche Sociale et Socio-Religieuses (FERES), la revue Social Compass et la Conférence Internatio nale de Sociologie de la Religion (CISR). De nombreux instituts néerlandais d'enseignement théologique mirent des cours de sociologie à leur programme. L'Église Catholique et les deux prin cipales Eglises Protestantes eurent bientôt leurs propres instituts de recherche sociologique. Entre 1962 et 1964, 13 % de la sociolo gie religieuse mondialefut produite aux Pays-Bas. Jusqu'en 1971, le facteur religieux figurait parmi les items du recensement natio nal. À partir de la fin des années 60, l'intérêt des Églises com mença toutefois à décliner. Le recensement national de 1971 fut le dernier à contenir une question concernant l'affiliation religieuse des citoyens hollandais. Seul l'institut de recherche sociologique catholique subsiste, bien que ses possibilités aient été réduites. Dans les départements universitaires de sciences sociales, la socio logie de la religion n'a jamais réussi à vraiment prendre pied. Mais la réalisation d'études sociologiques en matière religieuse a conti nué à se développer. Une étude extensive des opinions religieuses, intitulée «Dieu aux Pays-Bas», fut réalisée en 1966; elle fut recon duite de manière plus intensive en 1979. Récemment, l'Université Catholique de Nimègue a entrepris une enquête à propos de la sociologie religieuse des Églises jusqu 'en 1979, sélectionnant et discutant pas moins de 600 publications dans ce domaine.
Religion and Euthanasia in the Netherlands Exploring a Diffuse Relationship
Authors: Hilhorst Henri W. A.
Published: March 2007

Cet article cherche à clarifier les rapports entre deux facteurs opposés: la religion et l'euthanasie. Il présente des données empi riques relatives aux attitudes et pratiques institutionnelles et individuelles à l'égard de l'euthanasie.
Religion, rationalité et dynamique affective
Authors: Remy Jean
Published: March 2007

The text is based on the hypothesis that current anti- modernist movements are reacting to a break-down of meaning, and help to regenerate activities in which meaning can reinvest. It is in this context that we should like to reinterpret prestent-day religious effervescence. Does it indicate afundamentalist return to the past, in the style of 19th century religious revivals? Or are we here beyond secularization? These religious forms are characteri zed less by their involvement in an ethical sphere than by their rediscovery of aesthetics in the original sense of the world. A socio-historical study of pilgrimage would help us to understand this evolution. How has the change from a pilgrimage which, in the Middle Ages, structured the life of Christianity, to a pilgri mage which, today, is associated with popular religions actually taken place, when in many other major religions such as Islam and Hinduism the pilgrimage helps to structure collective life.
Religion et bandes dessinées: Tarzan et Superman sauveurs
Authors: Savramis Demosthenes
Published: March 2007

The Author of this article is interested in the salvific personages of Tarzan and Superman, two heroes who move within an utopic universe near to popular religiosity. This work attests that the secret aspirations concerning salvation of numerous of our con temporaries are opposed to the pure and simple disappearance of the religious theme, even if this last comes to express itself through symbols removed from established Christian indices.
La religion dans le roman feuilleton allemand
Authors: Daiber Karl-Fritz
Published: March 2007

The Author studies the mode of appearance of religion in the popular, serialized, German novel. Through the different versions of this literary genre (sentimental novel, medical novel, regional history, western...) the analysis permits the discovery of a functio nal, lived experience comparable to the religious experience habi tually investigated by the social sciences with the aid of other indicators.

« Trivial religion » with this light shed upon it seems to corres pond rather well to aesthetic or philosophical needs for security, the very simple structure of which accord with the role of the con sumer as individual.
Religion and Healing : the Case of Milingo
Authors: ter Haar Gerrie
Published: March 2007

Cet article traite des controverses qui ont entouré le ministère de guérison d'Emmanuel Milingo, ancien archevêque catholique de Lusaka en Zambie. Durant les années 1970, Milingo acquit une grande réputation comme guérisseur dans les cas de possession par les esprits. Son ministère de guérison rencontra une forte opposition de son Eglise et entraîna sa mutation en 1982. Plu sieurs aspects de l'« affaire Milingo» sont remarquables, mais l'Auteur se concentre sur l'attitude de la hiérarchie catholique zambienne et romaine vis-à-vis du genre de pratique de Milingo. L'article brosse un portrait de Milingo en s'attardant sur quelques expériences personnelles qui le poussèrent vers sa vocation parti culière. L'arrière-plan des conflits entraînés par Milingo est exposé et discuté. Finalement, les différents aspects de l'attitude de l'Eglise catholique en Zambie et à Rome sont analysés. L 'arti cle se base sur des observations de terrain réalisées en 1986 et fait usage de documents originaux.
La CISR de la fondation à la mutation: réflexions sur une trajectoire et ses enjeux
Authors: POULAT Emile
Published: March 2007

The CISR was founded in 1948, over forty years ago. Although this is a relatively short time, it is already too long for the collective memory. Today, the origins of the CISR are generally misunderstood, veiled in a mist of legends. The CISR was born in the Catholic University of Louvain. Canon Jacques Leclercq, professor of philosophy and natural law, who, since 1938, has sought to introduce and develop sociology in Belgium, took the initiative. From conversations with a French Dominican emerged the idea of organizing conferences to enable those interested in the sociology of religion to become acquainted with one another. The first two conferences were organized in Louvain in 1948 and 1949, but with restricted audiences and without published proceedings. However, there was a charter which set out ten points. At the request of Leclercq, the CISR was defined as a non-denominational, scientific organization. In 1951, at the third conference, held in Breda (The Netherlands), at which pastors outnumbered sociologists, a major shift took place. From that time, the association became Catholic, a circumstance which resulted in internal tensions and cyclical weaknesses until a radical change occurred in the conference at Opatija (1971). At that meeting, the original character of the CISR was restored, but now in a scientific and international environment that had itself completely changed.
La régulation étatique de la religion: monisme et pluralisme
Authors: ZYLBERBERG Jacques
Published: March 2007

Progressively, in the Occident and in other regions, state organizations have replaced religious organizations, not only by becoming the centres of the power structure but also by managing social cohesion. Whatever may be the actual controversies about deregulation and the role of the State, the State continues to occupy a preponderant role in the political and administrative regulation of the actors and social agents who are territorially bound by compulsory inclusion within it. The legal order, sensu lato, the political institutions, and the administrative machine define, frame and structure the general mechanisms of production and reproduction, and, by so doing, affect, in general and in particular, the enterprises of the sacred, even those that are transnational, which, however, are obliged to use the national framework to exercise their religious and religiously-derived ancillary activities. We discuss especially the general problem of central and national regulation of actors and of religious products starting from two ideal types: “ordonnancement pluraliste-subordonné”, and “régulation monistefusionnelle.” The development of schemes of pluralistic and monistic regulations permit the study of different roles and the articulation of religious regulation in the perspective of contemporary State transformations.
Détours et retours de la tradition chez les Juifs de France aujourd'hui - Essai d'analyse et d'interprétation
Authors: AZRIA Régine
Published: March 2007

Two centuries after their emancipation by the French Revolution, the integration of French Jewry appears to have been successfully achieved. But one question is raised: what has been its cost in terms of fidelity toward Jewish tradition? Following two distinct directions, the author analyses first the emancipatory logic of French politics toward its minorities. She examines the content and the effects of the two main conditions imposed on the Jews for their acceptance as French citizens: the renouncement of their collective and national identity as members of a Jewish “nation” and the confessionalization of their religious belonging, transforming them into a religious minority. The second direction is orientated towards the Jewish tradition, or, more precisely, traditions, as long as it includes the profane as well as the religious traditions. What is meant, then, by the very term “tradition”, according to tradition itself and according to the use made through the reference to tradition among certain contemporary Jewish circles? In a third section, the author endeavours to articulate these two perspectives. She tries to show how the requirements of both universes, culturally, ideologically, intellectually and politically so alien to each other, have become accommodated into a very specific phenomenon called “franco-judaïsm”. She also shows the distance separating this modality of Jewishness from the one expressed by the Jewish East-European immigrants settled in France by the turn of the century. She finally demonstrates how Jewish tradition, after undergoing a complicated inner process of recomposition, has succeeded in integrating itself into the cultural landscape of French Jewry and how it is on its way to becoming a commodity, thrown onto the free market of modern cultural consumerism.
Les religions comme systèmes de maximisation
Authors: LAMBERT Yves
Published: March 2007

In drawing on the concepts of economics, no doubt Pierre Bourdieu has gone furthest by conceptualizing society as a system of maximization for different types of capital. He treats religion as a particular kind of symbolic capital which fulfils functions of social legitimation and compensation. With some exceptions, the sociology of religion has scarcely been influenced by utilitarianism or rational action theory. If rationalization has played an excessive role in the explanation of secularization to the detriment of hedonization, that is due more to the influence of Weber. Considering that religions are orientated towards ultimate goals, we analyse them as specific systems of maximization (applied to a case study) and aim to sociologize the affective behaviour which is the kernel of what is called residually “irrational”.
Hypothèses sur l'évolution de l' “Islam transplanté” en Europe
Authors: SAINT-BLANCAT Chantal
Published: March 2007

On the basis of research carried out on Islamic populations within host societies and with the help of a comparative analysis of the religious behaviours and social strategies of the various communities considered (Maghrebin, Turkish and Pakistani), the author proposes an initial typology of the transformation of a religious field as yet too little known and hence difficult to delimit. Tendencies along three lines are analysed here. (1) “Re-Islamization” which is being organized among fundamentalist and neo-fundamentalist groups. (2) “Traditional Islam” which oscillates between two types of behaviour: (a) on the one hand, the community's turning in on itself and organization of a defence where the religious dimension plays a role in symbolic identification, value transmission and familial reproduction, and (b) on the other hand, the choice of adaptive behaviours and transformation of the religious situation given the new social context. (3) Finally, “secularized Islam”, where the religious dimension is progressively abandoned in favour of an essentially cultural identification.
Les recherches socio-religieuses à Cuba: définitions théoriques, méthodologiques et conceptuelles
Authors: CALZADILLA Jorge RAMIREZ
Published: March 2007

This paper begins with the perspective from which studies of religion in Cuba have developed: studies of organic forms of religious life in their content, practices, cultural modalities and organic structures. In Cuba, these forms are diverse and have coexisted for many years. Cuban religion is characterized by syncretism. Cross-breeding and migration have blurred religious and ethnic divisions and many different sects besides Catholicism are to be found. The approach adopted is of an interdisciplinary type, yet based on observation of facts and a dialectical interpretation, unencumbered by confessional interferences and ideological presuppositions. Within a Marxist perspective, religion is studied as a form of social consciousness. Yet it is not a simple passive “reflection”, a mechanical copy of reality, as some have believed in a simplistic interpretation of Marx. Any representation is a universal property of the consciousness forcefully manifesting itself. While at the same time refusing essentialism, the author defines religion by its reference to the supernatural. He studies, notably, the following elements: religious consciousness, religious activities, the organizational factor, and the rapports between these various elements and the functions of religion. Finally, the author defines the concept of religiosity as the type and degree of effect of beliefs and practices on actors and social groups.
Un nouveau paradigme: entre le sensible et l'intelligible, l'innovation et l'institution. De l'intérêt du propos de Michel Maffesoli
Authors: REMY Jean
Published: March 2007

The topic of the regulation by religion of the nature and the body is an opportunity to propose a new paradigm different from the web of questions framing secularization theory. So the work of Michel Maffesoli, opening up new directions, sometimes disrupts our professional routines. Within secularization theory, a rational process is underway, marginalizing the positive meaning of biopsychic requisites. In this perspective, new religious movements and religious expressions often appear as irrational, related to a regressive process. The alternative perspective proposes to look at new religious phenomena as an explosive process reacting against an excess of rationality. The emerging dynamism cannot be understood as springing from the functionality of the social system, but rather as resulting from a tension between social system and personality system. The connection between the two implies a dialectic process between complementary, but opposite requirements. Georg Simmel may therefore be an important reference.
La conversion: voie du politique ou de l'identité?
Authors: JACQUIER-DUBOURDIEU Lucile
Published: March 2007

This article examines the autobiographical interpretation that a Sakalava, from the northwest of Madagascar, offers of his conversion to Christianity, which took place in the 1930s, and the interpretation his grandson makes of it for the purpose of a thesis based on the theory of inculturation after 30 years of national independence. Between these two moments, history has done its work of producing meaning which, in turn, informs the actors' outlooks. The differences revealed at the end of this comparison do not bear on the finality of the act: in both cases it is a question of regrasping of speech which intends to grasp the world. The differences bear on the shifts of meaning which affect the witness to faith, in its content and in its project for the self. One is tempted to conclude that the act of conversion results less from a testing of the truth of beliefs than from a renegotiation of the subject's relation to the world, imposed by history. In conversion is it the accomplishment — or thwarting — of political assertion that constitutes the major event?
La réception des Lumières par le monde orthodoxe asservi aux Turcs
Authors: ARGYRIOU Astérios
Published: March 2007

The Enlightenment reached the Orthodox world subjugated by the Turks in the middle of the 18th century, principally through the teaching of Eugenios Voulgaris. Supported by a new and dynamic class of merchants and sailors whose teachers had trained in European universities, towards the end of the century the new ideas and sciences had conquered practically the entire educational system, breathing fresh air into education, until then in the Church's hands. The neo-Aristotelian “Corydalian system” of higher education, established for over a century, was certainly shaken, but the new knowledge did not seem to threaten the dogmas of Orthodox faith. Yet certain ecclesiastical and phanarict milieux proved hostile to the large-scale introduction of these “innovations”. The reaction was much stronger after 1792, for obvious reasons.