Globalization and Religion

Peter Beyer's article Religion and Globalization examines the relationship between these two phenomena in depth, after remarking at the start that globalization is a very new word with a very old meaning, and religion is a very old word that is constantly coming to mean new things. This insightful observation complicates the issue slightly, as it is therefore possible to make the mistake of dealing with either the old or the new, but not both. Beyer not only manages to avoid this, but actually embraces the complication by detailing the connection between religion the old and religion the new, in terms of the five major religions of the world. 

He outlines three separate ways in which religion and globalization affect each other. The first is through transnational migration, in which people from one religious homeland travel away to other countries, taking their religious traditions with them. This has the effect of altering the religious dynamic of the host society and spreading previously geographically-centred religions across the world. If such a thing can be said, this has both a local and a global impact on globalization, because it at the same time changes a local community and the global religious landscape.

The second is through the globalization of religious institutions. This is partly brought about by the latter point just made, but is also aided in no small degree by the rapid exchange of media across the globe. In the world of the television and the internet, religious ideas, concepts and practices can spread without being carried by people of faith. This is a particularly interesting way to view religion and globalization, because in this situation, not only does a minority religion have the possibility of growth in any given community, but the changes any religion undergoes in a country that is not its homeland can be carried back to the land of origin and adopted, or adapted, once again. 

The final effect is the role religion plays in modern politics, including global politics. This has both a positive and a negative outcome, which Beyer illustrates by mentioning countries in which the two can be seen. The positive involves association, inclusion and affiliation of one national identity with others who share religious conviction. The negative involves disassociation, opposition and in some cases, aggression, from one national identity towards all others who claim different religious convictions. It is worth noting that this third effect mostly occurs in situations where religion and politics are closely related, and that this can be seen in almost any political system anywhere in the world. Thus it can be observed that several religions have institutional, if not also political, presence and authority in most parts of the world. These religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism. What remains is for the political authority some religions possess in some areas of the world to spread to places where the same religions have less political authority - which can only really be achieved through implementation of the first two methods of religious globalization.

Reference
Beyer, P. (2007). Religion and Globalization. In Ritzes, G. (ed), The Blackwell Companion to Globalization. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.