关键词: 信仰方式, 私人化, 社会治理, 公共产品

Abstract: What is “faith”， and what is “society”? These two terms are used most frequently but they lack strict sociological definitions. “Faith” seems to be religious， but it is more closely related to practical power， profits， individual identities and the construction of faith modes. A discussion of faith or religious faith seems to be immediately inserted in a context with rich connotations and realistic relations， which consequently forms the issue of the ways of faith in China. Is there a “social” domain independent of the state and the market as far as the ways of faith are concerned? There is no determined understanding of “society” in complicated contexts of traditional political order tianxia， modern nation and revolution， and contemporary state and economic market. It is due to the absence of “society” in a sociological sense that the mass peoples faith almost becomes an issue of seeking practical personal benefits and then mutated into a privatized way. Thus， social governance and the way of faith are deeply separated， resulting in the missing of profound and normative moral resources at the layer of social governance. This is one of the most serious issues in the sociological research of faith.

Key words: the ways of faith, privatization, social governance, public products