Historicizing Secularity

A Proposal for Comparative Research from a Global Perspective

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2299286
AutoresMonika Wohlrab-Sahr (0000-0002-1522-2728, Leipzig University), Christoph Kleine (0000-0003-1798-4344, Leipzig University)
Ano2021
Volume20
Fascículo3
Páginas287-316
Data de publicação2021-08-04
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoComparative Sociology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1569-1322 • E-ISSN: 1569-1330
EditoraWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1163/15691330-bja10035
OpenAlexW3192451723
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas8
Referências citadas25

Drawing upon the critique of secularization theory, especially its lack of historical depth, this article outlines a research agenda that focuses on a specific - but fundamental - aspect of secularization: it aims at the historicization of conceptual distinctions and institutional differentiations between the religious and the secular. The authors employ the heuristic concept of 'secularity' to refer to these demarcations, and argue that secularization studies should give due consideration to their historical predecessors in various world regions. This seems important against the background of enduring criticisms, which consider such distinctions and differentiations either as an exclusively Western achievement or as a colonial imposition on non-Western regions. Taking into account the development of different historical paths, the authors highlight the transcultural, but in its concrete shape nevertheless culturally specific emergence of distinctions and differentiations related to religion, and propose secularity as a tertium comparationis for comparative research in this field. The authors introduce two different religious and societal settings in the medieval period - Japanese Buddhism and Islam in the Middle East - in order to illustrate the divergent ideational and structural backgrounds to the development of relations between the religious and the secular

Buddhism · Colonialism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Field (mathematics · Islam · Order (exchange · Orientalism · Political science · Secularism · Secularity · Secularization · Social science · Sociology · History · Law · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies