{"product_id":"religion-as-a-chain-of-memory-9780745620466","title":"Religion as a Chain of Memory","description":"\u003cp\u003e • Author(s): Daniele Hervieu-Leger\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher: Wiley\u003cbr\u003e • Publisher Imprint: Polity\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a major new account of the nature of religion and its changing role in modern societies, by one of the most original French sociologists writing on religion today. In a stylish and accessible study, Hervieu-Léger addresses the problem of how to distinguish religion from other systems of meaning in modern Western society.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe crucial point, she argues, is the chain of memory and tradition which makes the individual believer a member of the community. From this point of view, religion is the ideological, symbolic and social device by which individual and collective awareness of belonging to a lineage of believers is created and controlled.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eModern societies, Hervieu-L\u0026amp;eacute:ger argues, are not more rational than past societies, but rather suffer from a kind of collective amnesia. They are less and less capable of maintaining a living collective 'chain' of memory as a source of meaning. However, as major religious traditions decline, a range of surrogate memories appears, which also permit the contraction of collective identities. These 'small memories' are creating an upsurge of 'emotional communities' and the affirmation of ethno-religions within Europe and elsewhere.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis book will be essential reading for students and scholars of theology, religious studies and sociology.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Polity","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":45200923033751,"sku":"9780745620466","price":7013.0,"currency_code":"INR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0666\/3471\/1191\/files\/9780745620466.webp?v=1767307212","url":"https:\/\/atlanticbooks.com\/products\/religion-as-a-chain-of-memory-9780745620466","provider":"Atlantic Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}