Network Theory and Religious Innovation

Abstract

Network theory recognizes that ideas and technology are transmitted along social interconnections, and cultural and religious change can be understood as emergent phenomena through analysis of the variability and dynamics of these interconnections. ‘Information cascade’ describes the diffusion of information across a network, providing, when combined with sociological theory of religious conversion, a way of re-approaching the success of the monotheistic ‘innovation’. Instead of viewing success as a measure of inherent merit, using networks means the observed outcomes need not be ‘superior’. This is in conflict with evolutionary theory, and this paper attempts to begin to reconcile these differing approaches.