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  • Alternative Sociologies of Religion: Through Non-Western Eyes by James V. Spickard
  • Benjamin D. Crace
Alternative Sociologies of Religion: Through Non-Western Eyes. By James V. Spickard. New York University Press, 2017. 315 pages. $89.00 cloth; $27.00 paper; ebook available.

Alternative Sociologies is a refreshing contribution from one of the field's respected scholars. James Spickard's long career and varied experiences as a field researcher and consummate teacher shine through on every page. His dissatisfaction with and hope for the future of sociology of religion energizes his quest to find concepts to move the discipline forward. Along the way, the reader is treated to detailed summations and descriptive narratives that fit hand-in-glove with his main thesis, that is, non-Western derived lenses illuminate phenomena and relationships that culturally conditioned sociology overlooks or completely misses.

Spickard first establishes what he calls the "default view" of sociology: "the idea that religion is largely constituted by formal organizations, is focused on beliefs, and promulgates moral rules" (15). He shows how this view is propagated and then traces its evolution in the discipline of sociology within its post-Enlightenment context. In the process, Spickard [End Page 135] offers concise, if at times a bit reductive, summaries of sociology's luminaries' major contributions.

Next, he details what a Confucian alternative looks like and its application. This alternative contests the loci of religious practice and shifts the "unit of analysis" from the individual to relationships, "ask[ing] how religions … create and sustain the relationships that constitute human life" (108). A Confucian approach "undercuts the distinction between 'secular' and 'religious' spheres," being more concerned with the "integrated world of mutual relationships" (108). In regard to meal preparation and serving within American Christian communities, Spickard concludes that the Confucian view would not have overlooked the crucial role women play in sustaining congregations. Additionally, this view "would not assume that someone who says that religion is a private, personal matter is, in fact, an isolated individual" (127).

The next chapters delineate and apply the ideas of Islamic thinker Ibn Khaldūn (fourteenth century). Chapter 5, for example, focuses on Khaldūn's concept of al-asabiyyah (group-feeling), a centripetal force comprised of ethnicity and religion (a certain form of Islam) that unites people. Spickard applies this concept to the Marian apparitions of Medjugorje, the subsequent genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then the Islamic State. He argues that a Khaldūnian approach sees the Marian apparitions and ethnic violence as "part of the same process" since ethnic/religious identity perform similar functions in terms of generating solidarity (166). Group-feeling, he argues, might help explain the influx of jihadi recruits from developed states: "These fighters are clearly driven by a form of group solidarity: one of ideology, not origin" (177).

Spickard also explores Navajo spirituality. He centers on the lengthy Navajo rituals that performatively recreate the world. He shows how Navajo rituals upend symbolic interactionist theory by emphasizing the temporal and experiential dimensions of ritual. The ritual does something; it does not just mean something. With this insight, he examines a Catholic Worker Mass and soup distribution, highlighting how the experiences of both recreate and restore a "sense of 'rightness' to the world" and "reinforce[s] their chosen identity" (207).

Chapter 9 is a meditation on and apologia against cultural appropriation. After engaging briefly with postcolonial theory, Orientalism, and emerging Southern Theory, he concludes (not surprisingly) that his work is not, in fact, an act of cultural appropriation but, rather, "honors those ideas' creators" (246). His work is "not the equivalent of stealing the Elgin marbles. It is trying to create a better world" (249).

Religious studies scholars will find much to appropriate and appreciate in what should have been named Towards Alternative Sociologies. [End Page 136] Disappointingly, though, the book does not provide enough theory development to actually deploy "in the field." Nonetheless, it would be an excellent textbook for undergraduate students in sociology, and a good counter-text for a graduate program in the same.

Benjamin D. Crace
American University of Kuwait
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