This essay was submitted on February 20, 2022 as part of a midterm assignment for my Religion, Politics, and Society course.
Casanova identifies three different connotations of secularization as a) the decline of religious beliefs and practices in modern societies, b) the privatization of religion as a precondition for modern liberal democratic politics, and c) as the differentiation of the secular spheres, such as state, economy, and science, from religious institution and norms (Cassanova 7). Old assumptions of secularization correlate the modernization of Western European and American societies to the emancipation of public spheres from religious influence. Gorski highlights the general shift of Western societies over the past several centuries, “the original unity between church and state in classical societies [gave] rise to a loose symbiosis during the Middle Ages and then to separation and subjugation of the church in the modern era” (Gorski 140). Key to secularization is the concept of differentiation, where much of society’s public life and institutions—such as welfare, education, economy, politics, and government—have departed from operating under religious discourses and institutions.
Gorski identifies four main positions in the traditional paradigm of secularization, delineating the spectrum of discourse that secularization entails. On one end of the paradigm is disappearance, describing the complete disappearance of religion as it becomes replaced by science (Gorski 140). The disappearance position emphasizes the underlying evolutionist connotation of traditional secularization discourse that assumes religion uses more primitive logic than the sciences and philosophy that have arisen since the Enlightenment period. In the same wavelength is the decline position, where religion sufficiently provides comfort for those who cannot cope with the changing and unsettled times (ibid.). It seems that this position recognizes that despite science and reason, some will be unable to let go of religiosity because of the comfort it brings them. Following decline is privatization, that places religion in the private sphere of modern society. Privatization discourse also hypothesizes the emergence of newer, more “modern” religious traditions that combine individualistic “spirituality” and nostalgic fundamentalism (ibid.). Lastly is the position of transformation, which asserts that Christian values remain prevalent in modern society because they are deeply embedded into the foundation of social systems (ibid.). In this way, despite the fact that religion is seen as less overt and more fragmented in modern societies, its influence in public spheres has not diminished.
Old assumptions of secularization that view modernization as an evolutionary process towards science and reason and away from religion have been challenged by perspectives that highlight the prevalence of religion in modern Western societies. Newer discourses of secularization thus consider the difference between changes in individual religiosity and changes in societal religiosity, paying attention to how changes in internal structures of religious spheres affect individual religiosity (Gorski 143). Gorski highlights the idea that the Reformation caused a de-differentiation among church, state, and society (ibid.), recognizing that the emancipatory efforts of the Reformed from Catholicism was just as prevalent in politics as it was in religious discourse. The emergence of different Christian denominations post-Reformation (and perhaps also the increase in globalization in recent years) had created a “free-market” that created more competition between religious sects and gave individuals the opportunity to choose what they wanted to believe. This is further enriched by the fact that ruling bodies were becoming increasingly secular, severely decreasing the government interference on an individual’s religiosity. The new paradigm of secularization focuses on the prevalence of religion to be determined by supply rather than demand, asserting that the plethora of competing religions increases religious participation in society (ibid.).
Work Cited
"Rethinking Secularization" by Jose Casanova.
"Historicizing the Secularization Debate" by Philip Gorski, American Sociological Review (2000).
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