Religion Re-Emerging

The Role of Religion in Legitimating Integration and Power in Modern Societies

Bibliographic Data

ID2356509
AuthorsOle Riis (University of Aarhus, Denmark, corresponding author)
Year1998
Volume13
Issue2
Pages249-272
Publication date1998-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0268-5809 • E-ISSN: 1461-7242
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/026858098013002007
OpenAlexW2053492357
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited22

Religion has re-emerged on the worldwide political arena. This should not be written off as a temporary reaction against a necessary process of modernization. An advanced industrial society does not require religion to be separated from politics. The borderline between religion and politics is fluid and constantly contested. Even absolutist regimes in modern societies have sought legitimacy through religion. Today, religion mainly re-emerges voicing a moral protest against political elites who are seen as corrupt and immoral. Such a protest may refer to ethical standards from the past. However, a religious protest does not necessarily try to re-establish the old social structures. The functional logic of secularization can be regarded as an ideology which supports a specific power structure, and which tries to insulate a political elite from a moral critique

Elite · Environmental ethics · Ideology · Legitimacy · Modernization theory · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Secularization · Social science · Sociology · Law · Religion and Society Interactions

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