Religion and Modernity

Abstract

This book focuses on two issues. First, it describes how the social significance of religion in its various facets has changed in modern societies. Second, it explains what factors and conditions have contributed to these changes. After discussing the two central concepts of the investigation, religion and modernity, the book presents the most important theories that deal with the relationship between the two. The empirical part, which constitutes the bulk of the book, begins by analysing religious change in selected countries in Western and Eastern Europe. For the sake of comparison, it then presents individual analyses of selected non-European cases (the US, South Korea), as well investigations of the global spread of Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism in Europe, the US, and in Brazil. On the basis of these selected case studies, which place as much emphasis on analysing the social, political, and economic contexts of religious changes as on capturing historical path dependencies, the book offers some general theoretical conclusions and identifies overarching patterns and determinants of religious change in modern and modernizing societies. In recent years, scholars of religion have become increasingly sceptical about the validity of secularization theory; the analyses contained in this book demonstrate, however, that tendencies of modernity such as functional differentiation, individualization, and pluralization are likely to inhibit the attractiveness and acceptance of religious affiliations, practices, and beliefs. Even Poland, Russia, the US, and South Korea, which have often been cited as prime examples of the vitality of religion in modern societies, display clear signs of religious decline.

Between Distanced Church Religiosity and Intensive Personal Religiosity: Religious Changes in Croatian Society from 1999 to 2018

“…Uloga aktera važna je i iz perspektive razumijevanja uloge religije u nizu društveno konfliktnih pitanja, bilo da to poprima razmjere kulturnih ratova u kojima religija "ravnopravno" sudjeluje s drugim ideologijama (Ozzano i Giorgi, 2016), bilo da su u pitanju vrlo aktualni slučajevi uporabe religijskih simbola u populističke svrhe (DeHanas i Shterin, 2018). Razumljivo je stoga što recentni primjeri analize širokoga kruga zemalja odustaju od pokušaja obrane postojećih ili formulacije novih općih teorija, nego se zadržavaju na formulaciji niza teorema, koji, pojedinačno ili u kombinaciji, plauzibilnije objašnjavaju trendove u pojedinim zemljama ili regijama (Pollack i Rosta, 2017).…”

Confessional pluralism in Central and Eastern Europe: A GIS approach

“…Sociological theories of modernization (e.g., Berger, 1981;Pollack, 2008;Pollack & Rosta, 2017) have undoubtedly made it possible to analyse changes in the values of various societies, whether on the European continent or globally, using general indicators. These indicators have demonstrated their ability to forecast the strength and direction of change.…”

Religiosity of Migrants and Natives in Western Europe 2002–2018: Convergence and Divergence

“…Most European countries have experienced substantial migration, both from within Europe and from former colonial countries, as well as from countries such as Turkey and Morocco, which supplied labour migrants in large numbers to many Western European countries. More recently, the collapse of the former Soviet bloc and wars in the Balkans, Afghanistan and the Middle East generated new migration flows (Castles, et al, 2003;Pollack & Rosta, 2017). The 'newer' immigration countries of Italy, Portugal and Spain now have substantial shares of migrants, many coming from Latin America, and a growing second generation (Cebolla-Boado & Finotelli, 2015).…”