Secularization Revisited - Teaching of Religion and the State of Denmark : 1721-2006 / by Niels Reeh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Reeh, Niels., Author.

Series:

Boundaries of Religious Freedom: Regulating Religion in Diverse Societies, 2214-5281 ; 5

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Religion.

Educational sociology.

Church and education.

History.

Religious Studies, general.

Sociology of Education.

Religion and Education.

History, general.

Local Subjects:

Religious Studies, general.

Sociology of Education.

Religion and Education.

History, general.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (IX, 206 p. 1 illus.)

Edition:

1st ed. 2016.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2016.

Summary:

Since 2001, history has proven the classic and once dominant theories of secularization wrong. Instead of abandoning the subject of secularization, Secularization Revisited demonstrates how the collapse of formerly dominant secularization theories indicates fundamental conceptual challenges within sociology. This theoretical and empirical analysis argues that sociology of religion as well as sociology in general should pay more attention to the vital external and internal interests of the state, state-form and state-agency. In the first part of the book, Niels Reeh argues that inter-religious dynamics and state agency in particular have been neglected by the sociology of religion. Reeh then proposes a new analytical framework that can incorporate these two elements into the analysis. In the second part of the book, Reeh applies the analytical framework and presents the first long-term historical sociological case study of the teaching of religion in a European state. His study of the political decision-making concerning the teaching of religion in Denmark from 1721 to 2006 reveals that the Danish state's interest in the religion of its inhabitants to have been dependent on the external relations of the state and the state-form. On this basis, Reeh shows that the changing state interest in the religion of its inhabitants is a crucial factor both behind the decline of the social significance of religion from 1720 to the 1990s, and behind its increase in the years following 2001. Consequently, Reeh argues that sociology should abandon unidirectional theories of secularization and instead shift to studies of historical religious change. The book is intended for students and scholars of religion, sociology, educational history and history in general (as well as the general public).

Contents:

Introduction

Part I: Theory

A Conceptual Analysis of the Roots of the Dominant Secularization Theories

What is a Religion? Towards a Relational Approach to Religion

Further Implications of the Relational Approach to the Study of Religion

Part II: Case-Study of the Religious State Politics in the Danish Schools from 1700 - 2006

The period from 1721 to 1789

The period from 1789 to 1814

The period from 1814 to 1849

The period from 1848 to 1865

The period from 1864 to 1901

The period from 1901 to 1949

The period from 1949 to 1975

From 1975 to the end of the Cold War

From 1990 to 2006

Summary of the State Religious Politics from 1721 to 2005

Part III: Conclusion

Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

3-319-39608-0