Secularization In Defence of an Unfashionable Theory

by Bruce, Steve

• ISBN13: 9780199584406
• ISBN10: 0199584400
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-03-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The decline in power, popularity and prestige of religion across the modern world is not a short-term or localized trend nor is it an accident. It is a consequence of subtle but powerful features of modernization. Renowned sociologist, Steve Bruce, elaborates the secularization paradigm and defends it against a wide variety of recent attempts at rebuttal and refutation. Using the best available statistical and qualitative evidence Bruce considers the implications for the secularization paradigm of the extent to which new religious movements or New Age spiritualities are replacing religion; changes in the nature and power of folk religion and superstition; rational choice alternatives to the secularization paradigm; the popularity and political influence of religion in the USA; religious change in the developing world; reactions to Islam in Europe; and the effects of recent controversies over the public place of religion. Bruce presents a robust defence of the secularization paradigm, clarifying its arguments for the benefit of all sides of the debate.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vi
Acknowledgements	p. viii
Describing Secularization	p. 1
Explaining Secularization	p. 24
Clarifying Secularization	p. 57
Religion Outside the Churches	p. 79
Contemporary Spirituality	p. 100
Superstition	p. 120
The Supply-Side Alternative	p. 141
Unexceptional America	p. 157
Secularization Elsewhere	p. 177
Will Conflict Reverse Secularization?	p. 202
Select Bibliography	p. 224
Index	p. 237
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