Publication details
Religion in modern Europe: Lessons from the secularization debate
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2012 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| Citation | |
| Description | This paper, based on a careful review of the secularization debate in modern sociology of religion, argues that both possible extreme positions – the secularization thesis as the only possible model for explanation on the one hand, and complete refusal of the thesis on the other hand – are not good positions to be held. It is meaningful to speak the “secularization language” in our sociological study of religion of European societies even today, as far as we avoid its (naively) Enlightenment ideological connotations and approach the secularization theories fairly, analytically and with careful use of relevant empirical data. To reflect critically on deficiencies of earlier secularization theories, we do not need to reject all the sociological knowledge accumulated by the secularization theorists. The fact of growing visibility of various forms of religion and/or religiosity in contemporary Europe does not urge us automatically to put secularization theories into the graveyard. It only encourages us to think more thoroughly on what are the strengths and the weaknesses of the secularization perspective. |