Exploring different definitions and explanations of secularisation - PowerPoint Presentation

Exploring different definitions and explanations of secularisation

Starter: What do we know already? Auguste Comte? Karl Marx? Max Weber? Bellah? Fundamentalism?

Simple definition: The idea that the influence of religion has declined – and continues to decline – in contemporary societies (Sachs 2004)

Wilson "the process whereby religious thinking, practice and institutions lose social significance“

What are the problems with this definition? How can we measure ‘decline’? What features of religion should we measure to test decline?

RELIGION STATISTICS Analyse the following statistics and sort into pro-secularisation and anti secularisation

RELIGION STATISTICS What does data from the 2011 Census tell us?

33,243,175 2,706,066 816,633 423,158 263,346 247,743 Main Religious Groups In 2011, 52,037,880 people in England & Wales a nswered the C ensus question on religion 4,038,032 did not. This bar chart shows t he main religious g roups.

56,620 39,061 23,566 20,288 13,832 11,766 11,058 7,906 5,021 4,189 4,144 4,105 2,969 2,418 2,216 1,958 1,949 1,893 1,276 1,199 1,075 ‘Other’ Religions In 2011, 240,530 people in England & Wales stated a religion the Office for National Statistics classed as ‘other’. This was 0.4% of the p opulation. This was up from a round 151,000 p eople in 2001. This bar chart shows the ones which more than1000 people said.

176,632 32,382 29,267 15,067 6,242 513 348 In 2011, 14,097,229 people in England & Wales were classed as having ‘no religion’ by the Office for National Statistics. This was 25.1% of the p opulation. This was up from around 7.7million p eople in 2001. This bar chart shows the most common answers in thiscategory.No Religion

RELIGION STATISTICS Does the mori poll research support this?

There has been a 50% decline in membership this century. The percentage of the adult population as members of Churches has declined from 30% - 12%.   The Church of England has seen its membership decline form 13.5% of the adult population to 4% of that population. RELIGION STATISTICS

Brierley argues that there has been a decline in attendance over this period from a high of 50% of the adult population in the 1850's to a low of 10% in 1989. RELIGION STATISTICS

Approximately 1 in 10 of the adult population attend some form of religious service each week (and if we make allowances for the unreliable way these statistics are collected, it is probable that the figure is significantly lower...). RELIGION STATISTICS

The percentage of Christian Church members (Church of England and Roman Catholic - The Trinitarian Churches) is relatively small in terms of the population as a whole (15% in 1992). Church membership has declined significantly in the period covered by the figures. RELIGION STATISTICS

Brierley General increase in religious participation Non-Christian denominations in our society over the past 25 years Immigrants into Britain, bringing with them their own religious practices, tend to have higher levels of religious practice that reflect feelings of persecution, common cultural identity and so forth. In this respect, on of the functions for religion amongst such groups might be as a focus for the retention of some form of common identity and values, rather than it being an indication of greater religiosity.   As first generation immigrants settle and start families, their numbers increase. Thus, what we may be seeing is simply an increase in the numbers of former immigrant groups meaning that there are more people in the religious participation age-bracket, rather than an increase in religious practice. RELIGION STATISTICS

Muslims and Jews have higher levels of religious practice which may reflect feelings of persecution, common cultural identity in a “hostile” world and so forth RELIGION STATISTICS Ethnic participation

Amongst sects and cults, it does seem evident that there has been growth in participation over the past 25 years and this may well reflect a growing interest in these types of religions ( Scientology , Transcendental Meditation , the Moonies and so forth ). RELIGION STATISTICS

S ects and cults These sects and cults are, proportionately , very small in number - most number a few hundred members. Patterns of participation tend to quite different to the patterns established amongst the major denominations. Scientology, for example, does not demand a church-type attendance (members are simply required to buy courses as an when required). It is notoriously difficult to establish membership numbers and participation rates because, firstly, these are difficult to measure and, secondly, the sects themselves tend to inflate their membership numbers to present themselves as rather more established religious forms than their size would normally warrant... RELIGION STATISTICS

Bruce (2001) Over past 100 years in the UK the number of full time professional clergy has declined by 25% Brierly (1999) In 1990, 67% of weddings in England were celebrated in an Anglican church; in 2000, it was 20% RELIGION STATISTICS

What could these images be used as evidence for?

Others ways to spot secularisation (Shiner 1967) - ‘ disappearance ’ - conformity (religion is more concerned with secular issues than the spiritual) - disengagement (less public role for religion) - transposition (ideological challenge to religion) - desacralisation (demystification of natural world – rationality) - movement (from small scale to complex societies)

Can you think of any examples from last lesson that fit this? - ‘ disappearance ’ - conformity - disengagement - transposition - desacralisation - movement

Peruse the newspapers and see if you can find any examples of the categories: - ‘ disappearance ’ - conformity - disengagement - transposition - desacralisation - movement

A historical perspective Why might some sociologists argue that ‘feudal’ Britain was more religious than today?

The church’s role in feudal Britain? Monopolised knowledge .   Had a close relationship with the State and secular powers . Exercised powerful social controls over the individual (such as confession, excommunication and so forth).

In effect, in pre-industrial societies, the Church is viewed as being pre-eminent in terms of its ability to organise and control knowledge - not only in relation to such ideas as socialisation and education, but also in terms of the idea that it is unchallenged in its ability to provide a coherent, “rational”, ideological interpretation of the natural / social worlds.

Berger However, once scientific ideologies begin to develop (for example, the Theory of Evolution), the Church’s role as sole interpreter of the world will necessarily decline - and with this will come political decline. Religious frameworks lose their relevance, their plausibility and hence their influence...   Berger sees this process not as evidence for secularisation , but merely evidence of a changing role for religious institutions. While scientific rationalism has clearly triumphed over religion in some areas, religious values, ideas, norms and so forth still provide people with moral guidelines by which to live their lives.   In this respect, in the process outlined above, we may simply be witnessing a “ reversal of ideological dominance ” rather than a replacement of one by the other, insofar as religious and scientific ideas may always have coexisted - the difference, in modern societies, is that scientific frameworks are more plausible in some areas of life than in the past.

Modern day Britain Monopolised knowledge .   Had a close relationship with the State and secular powers . Exercised powerful social controls over the individual (such as confession, excommunication and so forth).

Victorian Britain Many see Victorian Britain as a Golden age – what evidence is there that this society was very unchristian? ( child prostitution, lack of political representation, the exploitation of child-labour, slavery, military adventurism and Imperialism and the like).

Victorian Britain Martin: “In Victorian Britain, the emergent middle classes tended to use Church attendance as a means of ‘creating and maintaining’ a sense of respectability. regular Church attendance, for this class, was more a means of being seen, by others as ‘pious’, devout’ and ‘respectable’ than as necessarily being indicative of strong religious beliefs...”. Or, as Demaroth and Hammond (“Religion in Social Context”, 1969) note: “ We should avoid the quick assumption that Church members are always highly religious in their personal beliefs and activities, or that Church non-members are otherwise non-religious ”.

Sort the arguments into pro and anti secularisation

Talcott Parsons Talcott Parsons (“Social Structure and Personality”, 1970), for example, has argued that, while religious institutions no-longer have a direct influence over things like education and politics, their indirect influence is still relatively strong (in terms of such things as norms, values, moral guidelines for behaviour and so forth). In “Social Structure and Personality”, Parsons’ basic argument involves a similar form of reasoning about the role of religion as he applied to the family in industrial societies. Thus: As societies industrialise , they become increasingly differentiated - that is, different institutions arise to cater for changing structural needs (the education of the masses, for example, is so essential to modern industrial production that it can no-longer be left in the hands of the Church, voluntary organisations and worthy individuals). In this respect, the Church as an institution becomes more specialised in its functions.  

Privatised religion/ The differentiation thesis : Religion is becoming a private affair . Grace Davie (1994), argues that there has been a separation of ‘belief and belonging’. She claims that religious belief remains widespread but is less likely to be expressed in an institutional setting. People no longer feel they belong to a religious organisation. Privatised religion is showing that religion is losing social significance

Berger Berger have argued that, as levels of knowledge and understanding develop in any society, a “natural” or “expected” consequence will be a decline in the organisational role of religious institutions.

Berger and Thompson Pluralism Berger “ Religious institutions become marketing agencies and the religious traditions become consumer commodities ”. Thompson (“Religion”, 1986) : “The religious views which at one time could be imposed, now have to be marketed and sold to potential customers”.

NRM’s Berger Denominations have become more bureaucratic and more “business-like”, those who seek a “truly religious form of experience” are attracted to sects which attempt to isolate themselves from secular society. Wilson , amongst others, interprets this as a retreat from religion - as evidence of the fragmentation, isolation and neutralisation of religious beliefs (secularisation), Greely (“The Persistence of Religion”, 1973), on the other hand, sees this as evidence of what can be termed “ resacralization ”. That is, the growth and diversity of new religious movements as evidence of the renewal, vitality and so forth of religious beliefs in modern societies .

Acquavita (1979) Britain is not alone (although the claim is made that Britain has become “the most secular nation in Europe”) - the influence of Christianity has declined over a wide range of societies.

Wilson has further suggested that the influence of religious institutions has declined to such an extent in Britain that: “ Religion is no-longer news, except when a clergyman commits a moral misdemeanour .” In short, the pro-secularisation argument , based upon the analysis of religious participation, is that secularisation is indeed taking place.

Religion as dissent In totalitarian societies (for example, Eastern Europe under communism, some South American countries) where the State has a monopoly of political organisation and expression, the channels for political dissent that are open in democratic societies are closed. Political / economic dissatisfaction in such societies cannot find its expression in “normal” political activity. The role of the Church, in such societies, may be one of a “focus of dissent”, in that the Church may be the only “legitimate” way through which people can express their economic and political dissatisfaction.

Berger Berger argues that the evidence for secularisation is inconclusive because religion has changed in form. In modern societies religion has become pluralistic (involving a number of different, competing, religious organisations) and privatised (a matter of individual choice). Because religion is seen, by Berger, as ideology (a meaning system for the interpretation of the world), he argues that religion is, by definition, “alive and well” because it represents, as far as we can tell, an indispensable element of human social life / existence.

Casanova KEY CONCEPTS: differentiation, decline of religion beliefs, privatization, deprivatization. He wrote public religions in the modern world. 1994. He distinguishes three aspects of secularization & argues that religion has not faded away from public life. Secularization debate.

SUMMARY OF THEORY: 1) Casanova believes secularization starts with differentiation where the state, politics and the economy become separate from religion. 2) Another aspect of secularization is the decline of religious beliefs and practices when fewer people take part in religious activities or believe in God. 3) Privatization is another aspect of secularization and refers to the way in which religion stops playing any part in public or political life & no longer influences how politicians make decisions or how individuals in society chose to live their lives.

* Casanova argues that religious beliefs and practices are not dying out, and that ‘public relations’ have increasingly re-entered the public sphere. * Although religion is no longer as central and important to the state it is has not faded away and still has a part to play. * BUT in other countries across the world, Casanova argues that deprivatization is taking place where religion is becoming more active in public and political affairs. RESEARCH METHOD: Theoretical. WEAKNESSES: as with all theoretical works, this could do with some empirical support, drawing on events in recent history to illustrate and substantiate the concepts he uses.

* Martin argues religion is likely to increase in importance because: i ) religion is no longer closely associated with rich & powerful elites, so religion has become more acceptable to those from lower classes. ii) rationalism has lost its appeal & there is growing interest in the supernatural and the religious to give hope to people. RESEARCH METHOD: some analysis of the role of religion in other countries. WEAKNESSES: This is rather out-dated and won’t be able to take account of recent events such as growing Christian and Islamic fundamentalism in response to the reactions of 9/11.

Is the secularization debate ethnocentric? Britain is a multi-cultural country: a melting pot of different religious faiths. Modernization and industrialization have brought with them social fragmentation of society into a plurality of cultural and religious groups. Bruce believes the consequence of social fragmentation is that the state can no longer support a single religion without causing conflict. The plurality of religions reminds individuals that their beliefs are a personal preference and no longer part of their membership of society. Bruce argued that religion serves two purposes for ethnic groups: cultural defence (a way of asserting ethnic pride in a state of conflict) or cultural transition (gives sense of continuity and security when emigrating to another culture).

Bruce KEY CONCEPTS: social differentiation, societalization, social fragmentation, strong religion, weak religion. He wrote religion in modern Britain. 1995. Argues opinion poll data shows weakening of religious beliefs. Some are moving to NRMs but such vague beliefs have little cultural influence & hardly affect people’s behaviour. Secularization debate.

SUMMARY OF THEORY: * Churches are more distant from the state now which has freed them up to be more critical of the government (e.g. CND). * Agrees with Parsons, social differentiation means religion performs fewer functions particularly as modern world is more rational. * Societalization means social life has become more fragmented and is no longer locally based around communities, like it used to be.

Bruce argues the decline of community undermines religion in three ways: 1) without strong sense of community, churches can no longer serve as a focal point for communities; 2) people’s greater involvement with broader society (work etc ), means they’re less likely to turn to their vicar for support; 3) cultural diversity means people hold their beliefs with less certainty as they have been influenced by other religions.

* Strong religion which dominates people’s lives, can’t be widespread in fragmented society while weak religion is more suited to fragmented societies where there is an acceptance that there may be more than one way to spiritual truth. * Doesn’t accept that NRMs are soaking up people leaving churches as there are too few of them. Bruce believes secularization is still definitely happening in modern British society. RESEARCH METHOD: theoretical – drawing upon survey data. WEAKNESSES: again, empirical data would allow him to operationalize his concepts with real people to see if they’re really happening.

The Kendal Project KEY CONCEPTS: secularization, congregational domain, sacrilization, holistic milieu. Heelas et al wrote the spiritual revolution: why religion is giving way to spirituality. 2005 . This was an empirical study carried out in Kendal, Cumbria which found less people attending church, but more people becoming involved in the New Age & alternative spirituality. Secularization debate.

SUMMARY OF THEORY: They categorized conventional, ‘normal’ religious congregations into three types of worshipper: 1) those that focused on people living their own individual, unique lives; 2) those that emphasized living their own unique lives but with clear guidelines on behaviour and 3) those that ‘pay little or no attention to unique lives, and require them to be sacrificed on the altar of a higher good’ – in other words, they look to God for guidance and will obey Him, not their own spirit .

* The first type of group were most likely to become involved in New Age religions whilst the last group were most likely to remain in the bosom of the traditional church where teachings of the religion are expected to be obeyed with no question. * The New Age was growing while the traditional religions were shrinking. This led the team to conclude that secularization was happening in the congregational domain at the same time as sacrilization (increased emphasis on the sacred) was taking place in the holistic milieu . RESEARCH METHOD: Between 2000-2001, a ‘body count’ of attendees at religious ceremonies was carried out, along with interviews, a street survey and ethnography. STRENGTHS: this study has a lot of validity as it involved strategic primary research.

Almond et al KEY CONCEPTS: structural conditions, contingency & chance, human choice & leadership. They wrote strong religion. 2003. Fundamentalism. They agree with Bruce that secularization & modernization cause fundamentalism but offer broader factors to explain this.

SUMMARY OF THEORY: * They argue that fundamentalism can be understood on three levels: i ) the structural level is concerned with long-term contextual conditions like unemployment, war, persecuted ethnic groups (Palestine / Israel) or dislocated people & social changes. This misery can cause religious groups to mobilise. ii) Contingency & chance , where although structural events as described above do have an impact, fundamentalist activity also depends on which specific historical events have occurred (such as invasions etc ). iii) Human choice & leadership mean that fundamentalism will not develop without religious leaders who can mobilise large numbers of people in support of their religious beliefs.

* They think the nature of religious organisations is also important, ones where individual congregations have some independence are more likely to develop break-away groups, including fundamentalist ones. RESEARCH METHOD: a review of a major comparative study of fundamentalist religious throughout the world, 75 case studies carried out over 20 year period, interviews in Middle East, North Africa and the US. STRENGTHS: A thorough research method which has more validity than purely theoretical studies. It is also dynamic in that it allows us to apply wider social factors to the spread of fundamentalism.

Bruce KEY CONCEPTS: fundamentalism, ideological cohesion, orthodoxy, ortho-praxis. Fundamentalism. Examines the sociological causes of fundamentalism & sees it as a ‘rational response … to social, political & economic’ constraints.

SUMMARY OF THEORY: * Argues the main cause of fundamentalism is ‘the belief of religious traditionalists that the world around them has changed so as to threaten their ability to reproduce themselves & their tradition.’

But what else..? i ) some religions have more potential for radicalism, particularly those with a single sacred text (the Qur’an or the Bible), this ideological cohesion makes it much easier to mobilise people; ii) fundamentalist beliefs are stronger in groups who feel they have a common external enemy – such Islamic fundamentalist groups united in hostility to the US & allies; iii) the way in which belief systems are controlled within a religion. Catholicism is centralized in Rome, but Islam and Protestantism isn’t; this permits radical clerics to influence believers; iv) it needs a supply a potential recruits, particularly those who are young, unemployed or poor;

v) the path fundamentalism takes is affected by its relation to politics. In the US, New Right Christian fundamentalists have had ample opportunities to promote their cause through politics, where this opportunity is not present, fundamentalism is more likely to take a violent turn. * Christianity emphasizes being religious through holding the correct beliefs ( orthodoxy ), whereas Islam places more emphasis on being religious through one’s actions ( ortho -praxis ). * So the emphasis on action & power along with the lack of democratic involvement, makes it more likely that Islamic fundamentalists will turn to violence.