Religions, globalization, merchandization
Debates and discussions at Lieu Unique
For our second event in the IPRA-LU “Labo Utile – questions de société” program, we invited Lionel Obadia, Raphaël Liogier and Dominique Coatanéa to debate with Dominique Avon on the topic of “Religions, globalization, merchandization”.
Hypermodernity seems to be characterized by new means of connecting oneself to the sacred: spiritual consumerism, branding of traditions, the supply and demand effect, spiritual goods brought to market, business plans and actual entrepreneurship spirit of religions, at the level of both the individual actors and the organization… The idea that this constitute the direct impacts of global capitalism has been accepted in academia and beyond, as though it were some inavoidable and mechanical action of the globalized economy on religion, a march toward merchandization of the sacred such as that of Mankind and his cultural expressions… Relations between religion, globalization and merchandization are nonetheless way more complex and call for a critical and in-depth discussion.
Lionel Obadia is professor of anthropology at the Université Lyon 2, member of the Laboratoire de Recherche Historique Rhône-Alpes. He has a PhD in Sociology and defended a thesis on Buddhism in France and the Western world. He extended his research to the Asian world on other religions and then on the jewish messianic movement and finally on the new forms of what is labelled “religious”.
Raphaël Liogier is professor at the IEP in Aix-en-Provence where he is director of the Observatoire du religieux. He has a PhD in Sociology and Political Sciences and defended a thesis on the westernization of Buddhism according to a political approach. He is interested in connections between buddhism and Christianity and, since a few years, in both what is called “new religious movements” and the discourses on Islam and muslims.
Dominique Coatanéa is professor at the Université catholique de l’Ouest. She hold a PhD in Theology and defended a thesis on the social teaching of the Catholic Church, specifically studying Gaston Fessard’s notion of “common good” (a Jesuit specialist of hegelianism and marxism). She is interested in the problematic of “the economy of donation” and hold the first Pax Christi chair.
Dominique Avon is professor of contemporary History at the Université du Maine. He is a specialist of the comparativ study of religions. He is, along with John Tolan (Université de Nantes), co-director of the Institute of Religious Pluralism (IPRA).
Le Lieu Unique
Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016
20:30
Free entrance
Podcasts from last year’s conferences and debates, as well as those for the upcoming program, are available at our resource centre.
