The Diversity of Nonreligion

Normativities and Contested Relations
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-0-367-18548-0
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 196 Seiten, Format (B × H): 241 mm x 164 mm, Gewicht: 398 g

Reihe: Routledge Studies in Religion

This book explores the relational dynamic of religious and nonreligious positions as well as the tensions between competing modes of nonreligion. Across the globe, individuals and communities are seeking to distinguish themselves in different ways from religion as they take on an identity unaffiliated to any particular faith. The resulting diversity of nonreligion has until recently been largely ignored in academia.

Conceptually, the book advances a relational approach to nonreligion, which is inspired by Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory. It also offers further analytical distinctions that help to identify and delineate different modes of nonreligion with respect to actors’ values, objectives, and their relations with relevant religious others. The significance of this conceptual frame is illustrated by three empirical studies, on organized humanism in Sweden, atheism and freethought in the Philippines, and secular politics in the Netherlands. These studies analyze the normativities and changing positions of different groups against the background of both institutionalized religious practice and changing religious fields more generally.

This is a fascinating exploration of how nonreligion and secularities are developing across the world. It complements existing approaches to the study of religion, secularity, and secularism and will, therefore, be of great value to scholars of religious studies as well as the anthropology, history, and sociology of religion more generally.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Quack, Johannes

Schuh, Cora

Kind, Susanne

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Religionssoziologie
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Religionswissenschaft Allgemein Religion & Politik, Religionsfreiheit
• Geisteswissenschaften Religionswissenschaft Alternative Glaubensformen Agnostizismus, Atheismus, Säkularer Humanismus

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1 Introduction: Researching the Diversity of Nonreligion 2 Concept: Non/religious Constructions and Contestations 3 Contested Humanist Identities in Sweden 4 Collective Nonreligiosities in the Philippines 5 Secularizing Politics in the Netherlands 6 Comparison: Normativities and Contested Relations

Über Autor(innen)

Johannes Quack is Assistant Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. He is the author of Disenchanting India: Organized Rationalism and Criticism of Religion in India (2012).

Cora Schuh is a PhD student at the Institute for the Study of Culture, University of Leipzig, Germany.

Susanne Kind is a PhD student at the Institute for the Study of Culture, University of Leipzig, Germany.