Rodney Stark, Subjective Religiousness and a Prolonged Farewell to Secularization Theory
In 1999, Rodney Stark announced that the secularization theory had died and should be buried in a graveyard of failed doctrines. He presented the rationale for this verdict in Secularization, R.I.P., which was supposed to show that the theory of secularization is not capable of correctly describing...
Published in: | Concept: philosophy, religion, culture |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English Russian |
Published: |
MGIMO University Press
2021
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.24833/2541-8831-2021-3-19-101-112 https://doaj.org/article/16a3fdeb41864709b19b2942ab6e3ab3 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:16a3fdeb41864709b19b2942ab6e3ab3 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:16a3fdeb41864709b19b2942ab6e3ab3 2024-01-28T10:06:49+01:00 Rodney Stark, Subjective Religiousness and a Prolonged Farewell to Secularization Theory A. V. Appolonov 2021-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.24833/2541-8831-2021-3-19-101-112 https://doaj.org/article/16a3fdeb41864709b19b2942ab6e3ab3 EN RU eng rus MGIMO University Press https://concept.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/547 https://doaj.org/toc/2541-8831 https://doaj.org/toc/2619-0540 2541-8831 2619-0540 doi:10.24833/2541-8831-2021-3-19-101-112 https://doaj.org/article/16a3fdeb41864709b19b2942ab6e3ab3 Концепт: философия, религия, культура, Vol 5, Iss 3, Pp 101-112 (2021) sociology of religion rodney stark subjective religiousness secularization theory modernization religion in iceland religion in great britain Philosophy. Psychology. Religion B article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.24833/2541-8831-2021-3-19-101-112 2023-12-31T01:47:13Z In 1999, Rodney Stark announced that the secularization theory had died and should be buried in a graveyard of failed doctrines. He presented the rationale for this verdict in Secularization, R.I.P., which was supposed to show that the theory of secularization is not capable of correctly describing either the past or the current state of religiosity in European countries, and even more so in the rest of the world. While Stark’s findings have been accepted by many scholars, the current researches show that Stark was too hasty with his conclusion, and the theory of secularization still has significant descriptive and explanatory potential. Thus, the results of recent research by Ronald F. Inglehart show that, although religions continue to play an important role in the modern world, their importance is steadily declining even in countries and regions that were previously considered permanently religious (for example, in the United States or in South America). Accordingly, Inglehart speaks of “recent acceleration of secularization” as the reality in which most countries in the world live. In the situation of the ongoing discussion about how fully and accurately the secularization theory is able to describe the laws and mechanics of social changes, it also becomes relevant to consider the question of why the previous criticism of the theory, including that of Stark, was not very effective. It seems that in Stark’s case the following factors have played a negative role: an ideologized approach equating the theory of secularization with secularism, the interpretation of the subjective religiosity of some societies as an unchangeable constant, which, moreover, should be accepted as constant for all other societies, and an extremely simplified interpretation of fundamental principles of secularization theory, which, according to Stark, is no more than the prophecy about the end of religion. The incorrectness of some Stark’s critical ideas is demonstrated by a statistical analysis of long-term trends in the religiosity ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Concept: philosophy, religion, culture 5 3 101 112 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English Russian |
topic |
sociology of religion rodney stark subjective religiousness secularization theory modernization religion in iceland religion in great britain Philosophy. Psychology. Religion B |
spellingShingle |
sociology of religion rodney stark subjective religiousness secularization theory modernization religion in iceland religion in great britain Philosophy. Psychology. Religion B A. V. Appolonov Rodney Stark, Subjective Religiousness and a Prolonged Farewell to Secularization Theory |
topic_facet |
sociology of religion rodney stark subjective religiousness secularization theory modernization religion in iceland religion in great britain Philosophy. Psychology. Religion B |
description |
In 1999, Rodney Stark announced that the secularization theory had died and should be buried in a graveyard of failed doctrines. He presented the rationale for this verdict in Secularization, R.I.P., which was supposed to show that the theory of secularization is not capable of correctly describing either the past or the current state of religiosity in European countries, and even more so in the rest of the world. While Stark’s findings have been accepted by many scholars, the current researches show that Stark was too hasty with his conclusion, and the theory of secularization still has significant descriptive and explanatory potential. Thus, the results of recent research by Ronald F. Inglehart show that, although religions continue to play an important role in the modern world, their importance is steadily declining even in countries and regions that were previously considered permanently religious (for example, in the United States or in South America). Accordingly, Inglehart speaks of “recent acceleration of secularization” as the reality in which most countries in the world live. In the situation of the ongoing discussion about how fully and accurately the secularization theory is able to describe the laws and mechanics of social changes, it also becomes relevant to consider the question of why the previous criticism of the theory, including that of Stark, was not very effective. It seems that in Stark’s case the following factors have played a negative role: an ideologized approach equating the theory of secularization with secularism, the interpretation of the subjective religiosity of some societies as an unchangeable constant, which, moreover, should be accepted as constant for all other societies, and an extremely simplified interpretation of fundamental principles of secularization theory, which, according to Stark, is no more than the prophecy about the end of religion. The incorrectness of some Stark’s critical ideas is demonstrated by a statistical analysis of long-term trends in the religiosity ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
A. V. Appolonov |
author_facet |
A. V. Appolonov |
author_sort |
A. V. Appolonov |
title |
Rodney Stark, Subjective Religiousness and a Prolonged Farewell to Secularization Theory |
title_short |
Rodney Stark, Subjective Religiousness and a Prolonged Farewell to Secularization Theory |
title_full |
Rodney Stark, Subjective Religiousness and a Prolonged Farewell to Secularization Theory |
title_fullStr |
Rodney Stark, Subjective Religiousness and a Prolonged Farewell to Secularization Theory |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rodney Stark, Subjective Religiousness and a Prolonged Farewell to Secularization Theory |
title_sort |
rodney stark, subjective religiousness and a prolonged farewell to secularization theory |
publisher |
MGIMO University Press |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.24833/2541-8831-2021-3-19-101-112 https://doaj.org/article/16a3fdeb41864709b19b2942ab6e3ab3 |
genre |
Iceland |
genre_facet |
Iceland |
op_source |
Концепт: философия, религия, культура, Vol 5, Iss 3, Pp 101-112 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://concept.mgimo.ru/jour/article/view/547 https://doaj.org/toc/2541-8831 https://doaj.org/toc/2619-0540 2541-8831 2619-0540 doi:10.24833/2541-8831-2021-3-19-101-112 https://doaj.org/article/16a3fdeb41864709b19b2942ab6e3ab3 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.24833/2541-8831-2021-3-19-101-112 |
container_title |
Concept: philosophy, religion, culture |
container_volume |
5 |
container_issue |
3 |
container_start_page |
101 |
op_container_end_page |
112 |
_version_ |
1789333973259780096 |