Abstract
This chapter focuses on religion at both individual and total institution levels. Power is foregrounded in the shape of the historically oppressive nature of religion and religious institutions. There are numerous ways in which the abuse of power has come to light in Christian and other faiths and cultures. Power struggles around religious identities are documented throughout history and continue in various parts of the world today with different states of confusion and turmoil manifesting. The case studies in this chapter are those of Ireland’s Magdalen Laundries and the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Ireland. The issues they raise have both historical and contemporary interest and relevance, and they reach across far-flung geographical spaces. They also enable us to illustrate how gendered power operates in the Church and how hierarchies of power operate within these mostly all-female total institutions. These case studies are dissected from various angles illustrating several dimensions to power, most notably the role of the state and the synergies with the new morality established in Ireland via the Catholic Church and Magdalenism.
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Davies, P., Wyatt, T. (2021). Religion. In: Crime and Power. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57314-0_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57314-0_6
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