Cultural and Social Continuity and Discontinuity as Factors of Non-religion. The Case of the Czech Borderland

Dados Bibliográficos

ID18966378
AutoresDavid Václavík (0000-0002-5761-7445, Masaryk University, autor correspondente)
Ano2022
Volume70
Fascículo4
Páginas507-529
Data de publicação2022-12-31
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoSlovenský národopis (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1335-1303 • E-ISSN: 1339-9357
EditoraCentral Library of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.31577/sn.2022.4.40
OpenAlexW4313889223
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas1
Referências citadas14

The Czech Republic is considered one of the most atheistic countries globally. One of the reasons used to explain the high level of secularization of Czech society and the high level of distrust in religion and religious institutions is the specific historical conditions. In this context, the political anti-Catholicism of a large part of the Czech political elite during the period of the so-called First Czechoslovak Republic and the influence of the communist regime are mentioned in particular. In my paper, I will try to show that other factors probably played a key role, especially the significant socio-demographic changes associated with the displacement of the German population after the Second World War. World War II and the disruption of traditional ties in the Czech countryside as a result of the so-called collectivization of the countryside (the top-directed elimination of private agriculture and the dismantling of traditional rural structures). Along with this, I will try to show that most of the existing explanations overestimate the role of ideological arguments against religion and, on the contrary, underestimate the influence of factors such as the disruption of collective memory, the reduction of the public visibility of religion and the role of (non-) religious socialization

Czech · Sociology · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions