Peter Beyer and Lori Beaman, eds., Religion, Globalization and Culture

W hile the literature on globalization is now quite vast, relatively little has been written -at least directly -on religion and globalization, with the noteworthy exception of Peter Beyer's own earlier work.As the editors correctly note in their introduction to this significant collection of essays, analyses of religion rarely factor into discussions of globalization.When they do, the discussion is limited largely to a consideration of fundamentalism (Christian, Islamic, or otherwise) as a reaction to the forces of globalization.This volume is predicated on the alternative notion that "[l]ike capitalism and the nation-state, religion and religiousness are an integral aspect of whatever we mean by globalization . . .and have been since its inception, wherever and whenever this is located" (p.5).Consequently the focus of attention is on the mainstream traditions across the world, as well as other forms of religious innovation and adaptation, and religious developments are treated as the creative sources, carriers, and consequences of the cross-cultural processes of social change that are identified with globalization.This is a substantial volume, both in size, range, and depth of coverage.The twenty-seven chapters are likely to be used selectively by most readers, but it provides a good balance of theoretical and empirical materials dealing with everything from the instrumental role of religion in new cultural configurations (e.g., alternative and immigrant religious groups in Europe) and forms of social action (e.g., religious NGOs) to the specific manifestations and implications of attendant religious changes in different regions and cultures (e.g., Japan and Korea, Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America).The chapters are divided into four parts: Theoretical and Global Perspectives; Religious Institutions and Globalization; Key Issues in the Relation of Religion, Globalization and Culture; and Regional Particularizations.Only a selection of themes and specific arguments will be treated here, in part because of the sheer volume and diversity of material covered, but also because the book lacks a sufficiently delineated and overarching conception of "globalization."The authors' sense and application of this concept are too variant, a problem most readers would anticipate.But the editors could have mitigated the

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