Title: Religion and modernity : an international comparison /
Authors: Pollack, Detlef, 1955-; Rosta, Gergely,; West, David
Year: 2017
Subjects: Christianity; Christianity Forecasting; Christian sociology.; Christianity; Church history
Abstract: This is not a book that provides a new integrated theory of religious change in modern societies, but rather one that develops theoretical elements that contribute to the understanding of some contemporary religious developments. Most of the approaches in sociology of religion are prone to emphasise either processes of religious decline or of religious upswing. For example, secularization theory usually includes a couple of relevant factors -such as functional differentiation, economic affluence or social equality -in order to account for religious change. However, the result of such a theory's empirical analyses seems to be certain in advance, namely that the social relevance of religion is decreasing. In contrast, the religious market model devised by sociologists of religion in the US is inclined to detect everywhere processes of religious upsurge. Religion and Modernity: An International Comparison avoids a purely theoretically based perspective on religious changes. For this reason, Detlef Pollack and Gergely Rosta do not begin with theoretical propositions but with questions. The authors raise the question of how the social significance of religion in its various facets has changed in modern societies, and explain what factors and conditions have contributed to these changes. --
Contents: Part I. Theoretical reflections. Reflections on the concept of modernity -- Reflections on the concept of religion -- Key questions and methodological preliminaries -- Part II. Religious decline in Western Europe? Between dechurchification and religious persistence: West Germany -- A stronghold of Catholicisim: Italy -- Religion in free fall: The Netherlands -- Part III. Religious renaissance in Eastern Europe. Russia: return of religion -- East Germany: no signs of a turnaround -- Poland: unexpected vitality after the fall of communism -- Part IV. Religious change outside Europe: three case studies. Religion and religiosity in the US: a contrasting case to Europe? -- South Korea: the simultaneity of modernization and Christianization -- Charismatic, pentecostal, and evangelical movements in Europe, the US, and Brazil -- Part V. Systematic perspectives. Macro- and microsociological explanat5ions for differences between countries -- Patterns and determinants of religious change in the modern period: towards a multi-paradigmatic theory.