Theories of secularisation and criticisms of secularisation

Weber (1905) — process of rationalisation

• Process by which rational ways of thinking replace religious ones

• Catholicism → Protestantism → disenchantment

Weber (1905) — Protestantism v Catholicism

• Protestant world view more rational than Catholic worldview

  • God in a Catholic sense = magical

  • God in a Protestant sense = transcendent

  • Catholic explanations of 🌍 = miraculous intervention

    • 🌍 = magical garden

  • Protestant explanations of 🌍 = predictable workings of rational forces, so wanted to find out what these forces were and thus looked into science

Weber (1905) — science and rationalisation

• Science also used to explain, predict and control nature

• This then undermines religion by allowing humans to control nature via tech

Bruce (2011) — black box > black book

• Religious explanations of events → technological and scientific explanations of events

  • Before: plane crash = evil spirits

  • Now: plane crash = engine failure

Bruce (2011) — technological worldview

• Impact of improving science on how we see the world

  • Scientific explanations improving day by day

• Encourages people to take religion less seriously as there now appear to be other explanations that were always there, just not known

Bruce (2011) — science and religion

• Science ≠ making people atheist

• Science = giving alternatives to religious explanations to take religion less seriously

Bruce (2011) — areas where religious explanations of events still exist

• Where science can’t help

  • E.g. cancer

Parsons (1951) — structural differentiation

• Process of specialisation that occurs w/the development of industrial society

  • Here: applies to different organisations formerly run by ⛪️

Parsons (1951) — changes in institutions

• Pre-industrial revolution: single institution (⛪️) for many functions (🏫, 🧑‍⚖, 🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒, 🏥, 🎶)

• Post-industrial revolution: many instutitions for many functions

Parsons (1951) — 2 reasons for changes in instutitutions

1. Disengagement

2. Privatisation — religion confined to private social spheres (even when ⛪️ is involved in the public sphere, it must conform to state requirements like teaching qualifications for nuns)

Wilson — changes in community

• Pre-industrial revolution: small, close-knit rural communities

  • Shared values expressed through collective religious rituals to integrate and regulate individuals

• Post-industrial revolution: large, loose-knit urban communities due to geographical and social mobility

  • Diverse beliefs and values

Bruce — consequence of diversity and individualism

• Undermines plausibility of beliefs

CRITICISMs of Wilson — Aldridge

• Community not necessarily defined by area

  • Religion is 🌍 and can be imagined by media

  • Pentecostal groups often flourish in urban areas

Berger (1969) — interpretations of the faith

• Middle Ages: Catholic monopoly over ✝

  • Religion = socially constructed "shield" (sacred canopy) that imposes meaning, order, and stability on a chaotic world.

• Post-Protestant reformation: plurality of life-worlds/many interpretations of faith as different branches have different interpretations

  • Crisis of credibility caused as this undermines the plausibility structure

CRITICISM of Berger (1969) — Berger (1999)

• Diversity and choice actually stimuate interest and participation

  • Evangelicism in S.America

  • New Christian Right 🇺🇸

CRITICISM of Berger (1969) — Backford (2003)

• Opposition can also strengthen religious beliefs, not just change them

7 CRITICISMs of secularisation

1. Religion not decreasing but changing

2. Ignores religious revivals and new religions

3. Ignores believers who don’t go to ⛪️

4. Religion hasn’t decreased 🌍

5. Past ≠ Golden Age of faith, future ≠ atheism

6. Diversity increases participation by offering choice

7. People religious in many ways, not just ones specified

CRITICISM of secularisation — Davie

• Assumes modernisation affects every society in the same way

• Multiple modernities — 🇺🇸 and 🇬🇧 both modern societies w/different patterns of religion

  • 🇺🇸 = solid ⛪️ attendance

  • 🇬🇧 = decreasing ⛪️ attendance

Bruce — 2 counter trends to secularisation theory

1. Cultural defence

2. Cultural transition

Cultural defence

• Religion providing focal point for defence of ID in struggle against external force

  • E.g. Catholicism in 🇵🇱 during communism; ☪ in 🇮🇶 before 1979 revolution

Cultural transition

• Religion providing support and sense of community for ethnic groups, especially migrants

Bruce — reason for survival of religion

• Group ID — most likely to survive when performs functions other than relating individuals to the supernatural

  • E.g. 🇵🇱 ⛪️-going fell after USSR fall; religion loses importance for migrants once they’re integrated