1st Edition

Post-Secular Society

By Gustaaf Geeraerts Copyright 2012
    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    288 Pages
    by Routledge

    Post-Secular Society argues for several characteristics of the secular: the experience of living in a secular age and the experience of living without religion as a normal condition.

    Religion in the West is often seen as marked by both innovation and disarray. In spite of differing approaches and perspectives of secularization, rational choice and de-secularization, many scholars agree that the West is experiencing a general "resurgence" of religion across most Western societies.

    Post-Secular Society discusses the changes in religion related to globalization and New Age forms of popular religion. The contributors review religion that is rooted in the globalized political economy and the relationship of post-secularism to popular consumer culture. Also reviewed is innovative discourse as a religious belief system, theories of the post-secular, religious, and spiritual well-being, and healing practices in Finland and environmentalism. This paperback edition includes a new preface by Peter Nynas.

    1. Trajectories of Post-Secular Complexity: An Introduction, 2. Are We Still Secular? Explorations on the Secular and the Post-Secular, 3. Characteristics of Contemporary Religious Change: Globalization, Neoliberalism, and Interpretative Tendencies, 4. The Global Political Economy, Welfare State Reforms, and the Governance of Religion, 5. The Concept of the Post-Secular and the Contemporary Nexus of Religion, Media, Popular Culture, and Consumer Culture, 6. Dimensions of Innovationism, 7. Authenticity Matters: Reflections on Lutheran and Muslim Perspectives of Individual Religiosity in Post-Secularity, 8. Combining Choice and Destiny: Identity and Agency within Post-Secular Well-being Practices, 9. Environmentalism as a Trend in Post-Secular Society, 10. Grappling with Liquid Modernity: Investigating, Post-Secular Religion, List of Contributors, Author Index, Subject Index

    Biography

    Gustaaf Geeraerts, Peter Nynas