IGNOU BOOK | Sociology of Religion [ ENGLISH MEDIUM] BSOC -106

Product Overview & Details

Sociology of Religion is a course that examines religion as a social institution and explores its role in shaping individual behaviour, social relationships, culture, and social organization. It studies how religious beliefs, practices, institutions, and symbols influence society and how social conditions, in turn, shape religious life.

The course introduces students to key sociological concepts such as sacred and profane, religious beliefs, rituals, symbols, religious institutions, secularization, religious authority, and religious communities. It examines the relationship between religion and other social institutions, including family, economy, politics, education, and social stratification.

The course engages with the ideas of major sociological thinkers such as Émile Durkheim, Karl Marx, and Max Weber. Their perspectives provide different approaches to understanding religion as a source of social solidarity, a reflection of social inequalities, and a significant force in shaping social action and historical change.

The course also examines different forms of religious organization and experience, including sects, denominations, churches, religious movements, and new forms of spirituality. Attention is given to processes such as secularization, modernization, religious revivalism, fundamentalism, and religious pluralism.

In the Indian context, the course explores religious diversity, Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, tribal religions, secularism, communalism, and religious identities. It considers the relationship between religion, caste, gender, politics, and social change.