Rabail Ghazanfar

Does ritual always work to conserve the social order? [Student Name] [Course] [Institution] Rituals and Social order 2 Does ritual always work to conserve the social order? In the present era, different cultures, social processes are led by the political, aesthetic, economic, symbolic and other aspects. Turner (1966: 3) illustrated that religions are complex as they are usually based on the concept of ‘emotional’ and ‘imaginative’ like tribal rituals that are linked with symbolism. It shows that rituals are made by the humans in accordance with their knowledge about the world and their image as well as emotional state. In addition, the history of anthropology, which helps in understanding the organization and nature of human society, can be traced from ancient Greek. It kept evolving over time, inculcating numerous subjects in it in order to explore the culture in a precise manner. According to Bloch (1974: 55), there are symbols in rituals have two features 1) isolation of symbols from rituals and 2) interpretation of symbols as units having different meanings. In various cultures, there are different ways to communicate with each other, and rituals are difficult to understand them without having prior knowledge. Turner (2012) explicates that communitas ascends in locations according to the rituals of people. For instance, churches, shrines, temples and mosques all across the world are built for the purpose of collective prayer in accordance with culture. It shows that most of the rituals are based on religious, cultural and other practices. Moreover, these rituals help in fostering the sense of connectivity among people by harnessing them with shared rituals. Henceforth, rituals help in retaining the social order by creating harmony among people. The social theory helps in understanding the reason behind the existence, extinction and development of the societies, cultures or rituals. Numerous cultures change or extinct with the passage of time when they are no more practiced or enforced by different groups of people. Nevertheless, the current essay aims to shed some light on the history of ritual in the light of ethnographic traits, Rituals and Social order 3 the role of rituals in conserving the social order and the implication of social theory on the cultural practices. Additionally, the history of the rituals plays a pivotal role in connecting people with each other following their ethnographic backgrounds. Throughout history, different rituals were performed by the people such as sacrifices to the spirits, magic and other related acts based on the religion (lecture, 7&8). At the same time, patriarchal theory demonstrates that a family comprises of husband and wife, eventually expands becoming a tribe, setting their own set of beliefs (McLennan, 1885: 2-3). Also, these tribes developed different taboos concerning different rituals such as marriages, deaths and others. In addition, Durkheim and Mauss (2009: 5-10) explained that social differences based on the taboos form the ritualized bases of cultural classification and people understand the world around them according to that classification. In addition, the language is considered as another factor influencing the cultural practices and shaping beliefs and rituals. According to the history, the symbolism was practised in nineteenthcentury and eventually explored religion, social practices and other aspects existing in a culture influenced by ethnography. Eriksen and Nielsen (2013: 120-121) illustrated that Frazer explored the meanings of magic, Durkheim focused on religion (in rituals) and others. The individuals, as mentioned earlier, helped in understanding different aspects related to culture and rituals. The practices are changing over time, and the traditions are evolving according to the shift in time and cultural practices. Although the literary studies of comparative postcolonial recently emerged, still there are numerous themes and central ideas related to rituals linked to modernist anthropology (Werbner, 2001: 138). Hence, the existence of the rituals is not a novel or alien phenomenon as it existed throughout the history of mankind inculcating various aspects such as language, traditions, culture, symbols and other practices. People speaking the same languages, Rituals and Social order 4 following the same religious practices and believing in the same concepts such as magic, god, spirits and other things make them connected with each other. In some religions, sacrifices are made to the spirits and other present different goods in front of gods seeking their blessings. These are all the rituals made by the people in accordance with their ethnographic background and the cultural practices they follow. Moreover, with the passage of time, the belief system gets stronger, and their rituals start passing from one generation to another. It shows that the sustainability of the rituals and other related practices is widely based on the way people choose to connect with each other via different traits. The concept of communitas is also applicable to the way people shape their values as one family keep extending and becomes a tribe (Turner, 2012). Hence, people living in a particular tribe from their own set of rules, concepts, taboos, language and other aspects that help them to connect with each other. Also, it provides them with a sense of unity. Moreover, rituals can play an essential role in sustaining social order. The rituals help in binging people with each other via communication and shared values. Hence, individuals bind themselves in accordance with a social order having certain defined rules and regulations. Stein, Hobson and Schroeder (2020: 3) explained that rituals are perceived as significant actions manifested by repetition, formality and rigidity. However, the group rituals aim to promote behavioural, affective and cognitive group commitment. Also, group rituals are not a mere signal of external commitment; it also helps in enhancing the internal commitment. As a result, rituals provide an optimistic contribution to the survival of different religious groups. Simultaneously, it can be seen that there are different religious groups that exist for thousands of years such as Christians, Muslims, Hindu and others. These groups are distinct from one another due to their psychology and behaviour, and in these groups, rituals assist in keeping people intact. In Rituals and Social order 5 addition, the symbolic cultural system of ritual is coupled with an extensive set of the shared scheme of conception. Also, numerous religious groups usually elaborate their rituals from Jews having Passover Seder to Catholics performing cross sign. It shows that these rituals are being practices and are followed by the people who belong to a particular group or religion. At the same time, there are limitations set by every religion according to their beliefs such as some religions allow drinking and others condemn such practices, some cultures allow gay marriages while others are against of such practices. Hence, it can be said that religion work as a driving force behind rituals and group practices. Chvaja and Řezníček (2019: 42) illustrate that cooperation and religion are intertwined. Henceforth, they provide people with mutual grounds to communicate and connect with each other through different norms and values. Nonetheless, the era of technology has changed the way people used to follow their rituals. The new generation is more attracted towards technological advancement, and the rituals are fading eventually. However, there are different religious practitioners in a different group of people striving hard to sustain the rituals through their teachings. At the same time, in some cases, social media helps in connecting people with each other by reminding them of their rituals when they are far away and are unable to have face-to-face communication with their families (Abel, Machin and Brownlow, 2020: 2). Hence, social media help distant people to contact with their families and participate in rituals virtually. Moreover, the outbreak of Covid-19 disrupted communication among people by enforcing the social distancing practices to avoid the dispersion of the virus. Such situation hinders the ritual practices by cutting the social ties. In order to maintain the social order and ensure the survival of the rituals, it is necessary to continue the practice of rituals. Henceforth, Virtual world allows people to continue performing their rituals Rituals and Social order 6 by keeping a safe distance, as it is necessary to keep people intact in order to conserve the social order. Furthermore, the social theory explicates the way human societies form, develop, change and disappear over time. Also, it provides an emphasis on the exploration of the experiments and thoughts of people. Turner (2012: 82) explicated that social theory provides a unique contribution to the anthropology discipline. Hence, the way people practice rituals and religious practices can be explored using social theory. In addition, individuals learnt prayers, magic and other ways to connect with Gods and seek the blessings or cure. It illustrates the strength of belief on different ritual practices that enabled people to connect with a particular belief of religion through repetitive and enforced ritual practices. Ortner (2006: 110) added that social theory helps in explaining the ethnographic traits of people as it aims to focus on the dimensions for the existence of the humans and their tendency to adjust and adapt the complex structures of settlements. Throughout history, humans struggled through different conditions such as natural disasters, climate changes, finding food and others. In the past, the aforementioned situations made human believe that such things are supernatural, and they eventually started calling them Gods or evils, shaping new rituals to keep themselves on a safer side. Nevertheless, in present time the development of humans made them realize that there are different natural activities that need to be tackled carefully with modern technologies and strategically thinking instead of considering them as a wrath of God. Henceforth, it can be said that the rituals are changing as depicted by the social theory. There are numerous cultures, rituals that do not exist anymore or are fading slowly, such as sacrifices of humans in a different group of people. The social theory supports the aforementioned idea as it also focuses on the way people change their cultural values, beliefs, rituals and other practices with the passage of time due to a paradigm shift in Rituals and Social order 7 generations. Moreover, the new rituals and practices come into existence over time, replacing the old practices aiming to maintain the social order and keeping people together in a particular system. In a nutshell, it is concluded that rituals are shaped through different ethnographic and social factors. Additionally, these rituals are based on the way people communicate with each other and the way they connect themselves with a particular religion or culture. Throughout history, people recognize themselves as being a part of a particular group such as some call them Hindus, others are called Christians, Muslims or others. Moreover, rituals are shaped according to the concept of communitas, where a family consists of husband wife and children. Those children grow up eventually and get separated having their families and this way the circle keep extending forming a tribe that ultimately form a set of beliefs and rituals to follow in order to create a sense of connectivity and foster the relationship of harmony among people of a particular tribe or group. At the same time, the rituals or cultures are difficult to sustain as according to social theory, cultures or societies change or extinct with the passage of time. Hence, most of the societies have changed or faced extinction over time. In order to conserve the rituals or cultural values, different groups preach their religious and cultural practices through the use of symbols or language. Although symbolism is perceived as an old concept followed in past, which merely exists in the present time, still it is used by different groups in the present time. In the present era of technology, the rituals and cultural practices are facing a shift as most of the people are unable to have face-to-face communication, so they use different social networking sites in order to communicate with each other. Hence, people are able to participate in different rituals using the internet, which helps in providing them with a sense of connection with their family and the group set of practices that they follow. It is necessary for the survival of Rituals and Social order 8 the rituals to practice them and teach the children regarding those practices as well as the reason behind the existence of a particular ritual as modern era developed easy ways to replace the old practices. At the same time, in the present time, people are more interested in finding convenient ways for solving their problems such as people prefer to use medicines instead of mixing herbs and using them. Despite the extinction of different rituals, there are still some rituals that help people to connect with each other and eventually help in conserving the social order by directing their behavior. Rituals and Social order 9 References Abel, S., Machin, T. and Brownlow, C., 2020. 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