Publication Type
Book Chapter
Version
acceptedVersion
Publication Date
1-1996
Abstract
This paper explores the nexus between the cultural and the material by examining the ways in which religion and the economy are integrated in the context of economy-driven Singapore. The mutually constitutive relationships between the cultural and the material are explored through a discussion of the role of the state, capital and religious institutions in pulling together the sacred and the secular. Specifically, the analysis focuses on how the state harnesses religion ideologically in its economic development strategies; how capital harnesses the potential of religion in commercial enterprises in practical terms; and how religious institutions themselves behave as financial institutions. The ways in which individuals deal with these structural forces and the integration of the 'this-worldly' and the 'wholly other' are also discussed, illustrating the intersection between structural forces and individual experiences.
Keywords
State, religion, secular, Singapore, religious institutions
Discipline
Asian Studies | Human Geography | Nonprofit Administration and Management | Religion
Research Areas
Humanities
Publication
Studies on the Geography of Religion 1995
Editor
Rinschede, Gisbert; Vossen, Joachim
First Page
123
Last Page
141
ISBN
9783496026167
Publisher
Reimer
City or Country
Berlin
Citation
Kong, Lily. (1996). The Commercial Face of God: Exploring the Nexus Between the Religious and the Material. In Studies on the Geography of Religion 1995 (pp. 123-141). Berlin: Reimer.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/1818
Additional URL
https://worldcat.org/isbn/9783496026167
Included in
Asian Studies Commons, Human Geography Commons, Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons, Religion Commons