Secularization traces the decline of religion and the rise of secular belief systems. But it also touches on the transition from traditional to modern systems of organization, the replacement of metaphysical beliefs with science, the transition from community to association and much more besides. The debate about secularism and secularization has become a central issue in politics, public policy and international affairs. There is a long history of thinking about the religious and the secular, but the modern debate has special features and a great urgency mainly as a result of fears about religious fundamentalism, religious revival, political Islam and religious nationalism.

Volume I explores the history and meaning of key terms: secular, secularism, secularity, secularization and laicity. It is primarily concerned with the philosophy and ...

Introduction

A compilation of volume Introductions.

Introduction to Volume I: Defining Secularization – The Secular in Historical and Comparative Perspective

BryanS.Turner

There are many reasons that may explain why the theme of secularization has become a major issue in the humanities and social sciences and why it has become such a critical problem of modern political life. One obvious reason is that in the modern world many important social movements are inspired by religious ideas and directed by religious leaders. In his influential Public Religions in the Modern World José Casanova (1994) has identified a process of the deprivatization of religion in relation for example to the Iranian Revolution and the Solidarity Movement in Poland. He also points to the rise of the Moral Majority in the United States ...

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