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Showing posts from October, 2012

Conceptualizing "Global" for the Study of Pentecostalism

One of my objectives is to further refine my understanding of what is meant by "global" for researching Pentecostalism. There are several options that I will mention at this point. Perhaps there are more to be discovered. For now, there are three important ways in which scholars understand globalization. First, there are those like Anthony Giddens and Niklas Luhmann who take a systems or structural perspective. Society is understood to be a dynamic social system that includes boundaries, structure, institutions, and a range of interactions that illustrate how the system is constructed and operates. Second, there are those who understand globalization as the field of post-colonial critique and civilizational clash. Huntington's clash of civilizations thesis is referred to here. Global society is constructed and negotiated among those civilizations that compete with one another often characterized by tension, debate, and violence. Third, there is also the view of global soc