Joseph M. Palacios
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226645001
- eISBN:
- 9780226645025
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226645025.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
The reach of the Catholic Church is arguably greater than that of any other religion, extending across diverse political, ethnic, class, and cultural boundaries. But what is it about Catholicism that ...
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The reach of the Catholic Church is arguably greater than that of any other religion, extending across diverse political, ethnic, class, and cultural boundaries. But what is it about Catholicism that resonates so profoundly with followers who live under disparate conditions? What is it, for instance, that binds parishioners in America with those in Mexico? For the author of this book, what unites Catholics is a sense of being Catholic—a social imagination that motivates them to promote justice and build a better world. In this book, he gives readers a feeling for what it means to be Catholic and put one's faith into action. Tracing the practices of a group of parishioners in Oakland, California, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico, the author reveals parallels—and contrasts—in the ways these ordinary Catholics receive and act on a church doctrine that emphasizes social justice. Whether they are building a supermarket for the low-income elderly or waging protests to promote school reform, these parishioners provide important insights into the construction of the Catholic social imagination. Throughout, the author also offers important new cultural and sociological interpretations of Catholic doctrine on issues such as poverty, civil and human rights, political participation, and the natural law.Less
The reach of the Catholic Church is arguably greater than that of any other religion, extending across diverse political, ethnic, class, and cultural boundaries. But what is it about Catholicism that resonates so profoundly with followers who live under disparate conditions? What is it, for instance, that binds parishioners in America with those in Mexico? For the author of this book, what unites Catholics is a sense of being Catholic—a social imagination that motivates them to promote justice and build a better world. In this book, he gives readers a feeling for what it means to be Catholic and put one's faith into action. Tracing the practices of a group of parishioners in Oakland, California, and another in Guadalajara, Mexico, the author reveals parallels—and contrasts—in the ways these ordinary Catholics receive and act on a church doctrine that emphasizes social justice. Whether they are building a supermarket for the low-income elderly or waging protests to promote school reform, these parishioners provide important insights into the construction of the Catholic social imagination. Throughout, the author also offers important new cultural and sociological interpretations of Catholic doctrine on issues such as poverty, civil and human rights, political participation, and the natural law.
Iddo Tavory
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226321868
- eISBN:
- 9780226322193
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226322193.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
Based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork, Summoned is an in-depth exploration of the social worlds of Orthodox Jews in a Los Angeles neighborhood as well as a theoretical exploration of the ...
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Based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork, Summoned is an in-depth exploration of the social worlds of Orthodox Jews in a Los Angeles neighborhood as well as a theoretical exploration of the co-construction of identification, interaction and the patterning of social worlds. Located off Hollywood and Melrose—a space known better for aspiring artists than for its religious life—the neighborhood surprisingly emerged as one of the main hubs of Orthodoxy on the West Coast of the US. The study thus traces the everyday ways in which religious life can thrive in the midst of an urban environment that seems to be sharply at odds with its most basic sensibilities. Focusing on the multiple ways in which Orthodox residents are pulled into Orthodox social life, it moves from the synagogue to everyday encounters the street; from panhandlers coming all the way from Israel, to the way residents balance the non-Jewish world they work in, and a religious existence that seeks to erase such profanity. Focusing on this density of social life, the book is simultaneously a theoretical essay on interaction, culture and the theory of action. As such, it argues for an inter-situational view of social life, a view that take the rhythms, syncopations and anticipations of social life as seriously as it takes what happens within each situation.Less
Based on five years of ethnographic fieldwork, Summoned is an in-depth exploration of the social worlds of Orthodox Jews in a Los Angeles neighborhood as well as a theoretical exploration of the co-construction of identification, interaction and the patterning of social worlds. Located off Hollywood and Melrose—a space known better for aspiring artists than for its religious life—the neighborhood surprisingly emerged as one of the main hubs of Orthodoxy on the West Coast of the US. The study thus traces the everyday ways in which religious life can thrive in the midst of an urban environment that seems to be sharply at odds with its most basic sensibilities. Focusing on the multiple ways in which Orthodox residents are pulled into Orthodox social life, it moves from the synagogue to everyday encounters the street; from panhandlers coming all the way from Israel, to the way residents balance the non-Jewish world they work in, and a religious existence that seeks to erase such profanity. Focusing on this density of social life, the book is simultaneously a theoretical essay on interaction, culture and the theory of action. As such, it argues for an inter-situational view of social life, a view that take the rhythms, syncopations and anticipations of social life as seriously as it takes what happens within each situation.