Religions 2017, 8(1), 7; doi:10.3390/rel8010007
Glocalization and the Marketing of Christianity in Early Modern Southeast Asia†
Asian Studies Program, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96825, USA
†
An earlier version of this paper was published as “The glocalization of Christianity in early modern Southeast Asia.” In Early modern Southeast Asia, 1350-1800. Edited by Ooi Keat Gin and Hoang Anh Tuah. London: Routledge, 2015, pp. 233–49.
Academic Editors: Victor Roudometof and Peter Iver Kaufman
Received: 5 October 2016 / Revised: 14 December 2016 / Accepted: 30 December 2016 / Published: 10 January 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Glocal Religions)
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Abstract
The expansion of European commercial interests into Southeast Asia during the early modern period was commonly justified by the biblical injunction to spread Christian teachings, and by the “civilizing” influences it was said to foster. In focusing on areas where Christianity gained a foothold or, in the Philippines and Timor Leste, became the dominant faith, this article invokes the marketing concept of “glocalization”, frequently applied to the sociology of religion. It argues that the historical beginnings of the processes associated with the global/local interface of Christianity are situated in the sixteenth century, when Europe, Asia and the Americas were finally linked through maritime connections. Christian missionizing was undertaken with the assumption that the European-based “brand” of beliefs and practices could be successfully transported to a very different environment. However, the application of these ideas was complicated by the goal of imposing European economic control, by the local resistance thus generated, and by competition with other religions and among Christians themselves. In this often antagonistic environment, the degree to which a global product could be “repackaged” and “glocalized” so that it was appealing to consumers in different cultural environments was always constrained, even among the most sympathetic purveyors. As a result, the glocalization of Christianity set up “power-laden tensions” which both global institutions and dispersed consumers continue to negotiate. View Full-TextKeywords:
Christianity; globalization; glocalization; early modern; Southeast Asia
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
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Andaya, B.W. Glocalization and the Marketing of Christianity in Early Modern Southeast Asia. Religions 2017, 8, 7.
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