Virtuosity, Charisma and Social Order

A Comparative Sociological Study of Monasticism in Theravada Buddhism and Medieval Catholicism

• Author(s): Ilana Friedrich-Silber,
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Pages: 250
• ISBN_10: 0521413974
  ISBN_13: 9780521413978
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Philosophy / Religious , Religion / Buddhism / Rituals & Practice , Religion / Christianity / History , Social Science / Sociology of Religion ,

Description:... This book is a comparative macrosociological study of the interaction between religious virtuosi and society in two civilizations: traditional Theravada Buddhism and Medieval Catholicism. Merging Weberian sociology with the Maussian tradition of gift-analysis, and criticizing the neglect of meaning in current comparative historical sociology, the author also argues the need for a multidimensional approach capable of addressing the part played by religious orientations in shaping the institutional strength and ideological power of religious elites in the historical framework of the Great Traditions.