Ritual: Communication in Action

A critique of Jürgen Habermas's evolutionary narrative of communicative action is presented. According to Habermas, ritual has declined as a medium of communication due to the growth of rational discourse. Contrary to Habermas, it is shown here that rituals have a continuing importance in conte...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cheal, David (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: [publisher not identified] 1992
In: Sociological analysis
Year: 1992, Volume: 53, Issue: 4, Pages: 363-374
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Summary:A critique of Jürgen Habermas's evolutionary narrative of communicative action is presented. According to Habermas, ritual has declined as a medium of communication due to the growth of rational discourse. Contrary to Habermas, it is shown here that rituals have a continuing importance in contemporary religious and social life, for three reasons that are not adequately treated in his theory: (1) Rituals help to define alternative realities that are outside the totalizing world views of modern elites and the institutions they control. (2) Where a range of possibly irreconcilable interests exists, rituals may be the most effective means for generating unity via feelings of identification that are detached from critical reasoning. (3) Rituals have not been completely displaced by discourse, because rituals themselves have evolved in response to changing social conditions.
ISSN:2325-7873
Contains:Enthalten in: Sociological analysis
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.2307/3711433