Commodification of religion refers to religious symbols becoming commodities, objects of consumption readily available in the “supermarket of religion,” in economic life, and the media landscape. ... Often, the commodification of religion is related to a loss of power to shape religious practices.
Commodification of religion is similar to the packaging of emotions into the compartments of particularistic piety wherein people drive thier identity from.
Einstein identifies commodification of
religion in faith branding, as a concept reflected in the packaging of religion as a product for purchase mainly using sacred objects and religious artefacts.
Causes of commodification of religion
1.The part of globalisation has played in ushering commodification and commercialization of religion
Mera nanda gives detailed analysis of the aspects of commodification of religion. See sees New india religiosity and commodification of religion as a response to india headlong rush into the global economy.
- Commodification of religion is response to new socio-psychological needs created by Neo-liberalism and globalisation.
- New rituals and new gods are being invented old gods are being modified, and new gurus are mixing up spiritualism with capitalism and consumerism.
2.the practice of rituals and observance of beliefs is heavily influenced by what is happening around the world.
3.Rise in media production and distribution :- The " Rush hour of the gods " termed by H Neill Macfarland to describe the proliferation of new expression of religiosity in Japan in the immediate aftermath of the second world war. Hence the overwhelming religious and spiritual options given to the ordinary people through mass media.
Mediated spirituality is a modern day
phenomenon in which mass media systems are
effectively utilized by religious producers to reach audiences and engage them in diverse ways at a personal level without any form of scrutiny by known religious conventions.
4.Materials things that are commodities of religion as well as ritual objects such as - Idols, Fresh flowers, framed pictures of deities and prayer alters.
Galgalo observes that there is a tendency
to package the name of God and sell it to the highest bidder in exchange for miracles and blessings, contrary to religious orthodoxy which offends commercialization of spiritual gifts.
Example
1.Girls believed to be in guise of the goddess are given sweets, gifts and money. The relationship between the gooddess and devotee who calls upon the whole ritual can be seen as commodified around monetary transactions.
2.To commemorate Navaratri puja the market nowadays is flooded with commercialized gift items which the devotees give to young girls.
3.Akshah trithiya - Consumerist face it has now begun to be celebrated as auspicious for buying gold is getting corporate makeover.
4.People holding pride while wearing a T-shirt adorns thier god or affixing a sticker of thier religious identity over their cars. This phenomenon is very common as how people endorse thier religious commodities by taking pride with its association.
Consequences of commodification of religion
1.Emile durkheim says commodification of religious items can also be seen as a step towards sanctifying a religion because commodities of religion are held to be highly sacred.
2.Graham Ward argues: Commodification produces a spectogram or hologram of religion, a bloodless and disembodied “religious cast of mind”: a fantasy of religion, which, like an atmosphere, demands only that we breathe it in.
Karl Marx defines a commodity as something that organizes both material-like and social relations in a capitalistic society. He further describes a commodity as the basic unit of social relations in capitalism that is used for value exchange. These definitions encompass religion as a social institution considering that religious practices operate on the premise of social relations with religious commodities forming important ingredients which propel that social process.
How religion creates capitalism?
The influence of capitalism is also quite evident on the consumption of religious objects/ material religion and vice versa.
- Legitimacy to trade in religious commodities which are ultimately consumed as ritual objects by devotees is sometimes sanctioned by the religion itself.
- Max Weber in his book The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905) studied the relationship between the ethics of ascetic Protestantism and the emergence of the spirit of modern capitalism.
- Weber argues that the religious ideas of groups such as the Calvinists too played a role in creating the capitalistic spirit. Religion as the potential cause of the modern economic conditions is evident because Calvinist religious doctrine value profit and material success as signs of God's favor. Other religious groups, such as the Pietists, Methodists, and the Baptist sects had similar attitudes to a lesser degree.
- Weber argues that this new attitude broke down the traditional economic system, paving the way for modern capitalism. However, once capitalism emerged, the Protestant values were no longer necessary, and their ethic took which in turn advance development.
There are certain social preconditions to economic development like religion. This is so because religion drives culture and social forms on a life of its own. useful for modern economic activity.The result is a well-educated, highly skilled diligent work force and large pools of capital. We are now locked into the spirit of capitalism because it is so
The globalization, capitalism, large scale immigration and with the decline of traditional religious value systems the western individual often faces religious options at a large unprecedented scale. In the present age where flow of information is taking place at an enormous speed, the rate of religious consumerism has also been accelerated. With this new age of information the public comes across varying religious and value based information where they also have the option of discontinue from their own existing value systems. The point for us is to understand that how this process of reconditioning or commodification takes place both at micro and macro level.
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