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-~~DECKJS~~
-# Western modernity as culture, ii #
-## Western modernity as culture, ii ##
-Ryan Schram
-Mills 169, A26
-ryan (dot) schram (at) sydney.edu.au
-Wednesday, October 20, 2017
-Available at http://anthro.rschram.org/1002/8.2
-### Reading ###
-Haynes, Naomi. 2015. “‘Zambia Shall Be Saved!’: Prosperity Gospel Politics in a Self-Proclaimed Christian Nation.” Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 19 (1): 5–24. doi:10.1525/nr.2015.19.1.5.
-## The idea of "modernity" is cultural
-* There is no such thing as modernity, but the idea of modernity is powerful.
-* Many cultures represent their own history as a linear movement.
-* Western cultures' concept of modernity is the liberation of the
-  individual from constraints inherited from the past.
-* When Christianity is adopted by other societies, this idea of
-  liberation can be one of its most powerful influences.
-## Christianity as site of conjuncture
-### Christianity is based on individualism
-* Personal, sincere confession
-* Equality of all believers qua moral subjects
-* Individual responsibility for one's relationship to God
-### Prosperity theology is individualism without asceticism
-* Prayers to God must be answered.
-* Health, success and wealth are what God wants for believers.
-## Decolonization and development
-### Modernization
-* Decolonization of former colonial empires was supposed to create
-  new, "modern" nations.
-* After WWII, European powers and the United Nations would intervene
-  in postcolonial states and help them develop industrial economies.
-* People hoped that postcolonial societies would leave behind
-  traditional identities and structures in favor of individual rights
-  and a Western form of government.
-### Globalization
-* Postcolonial societies have always needed to integrate themselves
-  into global capitalism.
-* Even though they are independent, they still have to fit into a
-  specific economic niche.
-## The Zambian Copperbelt
-* 1924: Copper mines begin operation in Northern Rhodesia
-* 1964: Northern Rhodesia becomes the independent nation of Zambia
-* 1969: 30% of the population lives in an urban area; 19% of people
-  earn wages as their main income.
-* 1970-1986: Copper prices flatten out; the value of Zambian exports
-  falls to one third of its 1970 value.
-Zambia went from a success story to a very poor country. It is not underdeveloped; it was developed and then went into decline because of its position in a post-Fordist, global capitalist system (see Ferguson 1999).
-## The social context of prosperity theology
-* Pentecostal churches are start-up enterprises of Christianity
-* Pastors of prosperity churches often hold themselves up as examples
-  of success, and thus as moral models.
-* The pastor's "charisma" (compelling message, not likeability or
-  popularity) creates a congregation of fellow believers, i.e. a new
-  social identity.
-* Haynes: Prosperity is "socially productive"--The blessed can bless
-  others (Haynes 2013, 87).
-## References
-Ferguson, James. 1999. Expectations of Modernity: Myths and Meanings of Urban Life on the Zambian Copperbelt. Berkeley: University of California Press.
-Haynes, Naomi. 2013. “On the Potential and Problems of Pentecostal Exchange.” American Anthropologist 115 (1): 85–95. doi:10.1111/j.1548-1433.2012.01537.x.
-## A guide to the unit ##
-{{page>1002guide}}

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