MULTIPLE MODERNITIES - CHRISTIANITY, ISLAM, AND HINDUISM IN A GLOBALIZING AGE

The late twentieth century has seen far-reaching changes in the transl ocal cultural regimes known as world religions. This review examines t he politics and meanings of recent changes in three such religions: Ch ristianity, Islam, and Hinduism. It highlights the nature of the force s reshaping religious meanings and authority, the processes promoting conversion and standardization, and the implications of these religiou s refigurations for our understanding of late modernity itself. Though modernity is multiple and every tradition unique, this review suggest s that all contemporary religions confront a similar structural predic ament, related to the globalization of mass societies and the porous p luralism of late modernity.