Religious Movements and the Challenges of Modernity
The article deals with the development of Protestant fundamentalism on the one hand and with expressive forms of US-American religion since the 1960s on the other. Both religious movements are discussed from the perspective of the sociology of emotions. It is therefore argued for a theoretical approach that connects questions and perspectives of the sociology of religion with that of the sociology of emotions, showing that this link is missing and needed. It is demonstrated in an exemplary way that the modern experience and challenge of contingency is connected to religious movements and that modern Fundamentalism is not only related to this experience but also to the emotions of fear, shame, and anger. Current religious movements, however, cannot be explained without focusing on their subjective and ‘positive’ emotional basis : Since the 1960s, subjective emotional evidence serves as an answer to problems of contingency. Thus, ‘negative’ as well as ‘positive’ emotions have to be taken into account if one wants to gain a deeper understanding of modern religious movements.