I haven't read Mike Davis's work but I'll say up front this is in stark contrast to most of the material I've encountered. It seems that the vast majority of "fundamentalists" and "evangelicals" are from the downward moving middle-class. They are wired, high-tech, motivated, and relatively mobile, forming part of a descending class nostalgic for a 'golden age' and perceive themselves to be beleaguered by the forces of modernisation, secularisation, and humanism. For the most part, fundamentalists are educated and literate. Groups practicing in relative isolation to mainstream culture are exceptions (and tend to be more other-worldly than political). The idea, I gather, is that they see the future and perceive themselves not to be part of it (descending) and respond with a glorification of previously held values ("tradition") that appears to be eroded through their ascension to the middle class (insert a sense of guilt and responsibility here). This has been most strongly prevalent (from my rather limited studies) in traditions including Christianity (evangelical), Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, and Hinduism. Japanese 'fundamentalism' is more sect oriented, with various mixes of Shinto and Buddhism. I'd wager that the list of 'fundamentalist' groups is virtually endless. The commonalities between these groups, hence my cross-cultural observations, include attitudes towards women (opposed to the modern Woman), modernism (yes to industry, wealth, and technology, no to secularisation), a sense of loss (of tradition and meaning) and nostalgia (back in the day...).
But, I could be very wrong. Maybe the evangelical tradition is predominate in the slums... but then why the individual cups at the communion rail? The communal single cup is a symbol of community and togetherness (we're all in this together!)... the individual cups are designed to symbolically protect and maintain social boundaries / purity... often a concern, as Mary Douglas argues, for those living in anxiety and decline...
ken
-----Original Message----- From: lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-bounces at lbo-talk.org] On Behalf Of alex lantsberg Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 9:57 AM To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] Re: the gibson jesus (or evangelicism)
anyway...he basically made the point that this evangelicism is an extraordianrily fast growing movement that dominates the slums of the world's large, non western cities. its appeal is simple...it makes life immediately better for the family/HH unit as it offers a support group for women that provides all forms of assistance and even produces an income effect as it mellows out the men from carrousing and boozing. while it creates a strong internal community among the flock it is also marked by a general withdrawal from the workings of the state, feeding the dynamic whereby the elites continue to promulgate the policies that drive more and more people into the city slums and reinforcing the process.