Factoring religion in the time of symbolic liberalism

Some reflections on secularism and sexuality

Bibliographic Data

ID3865770
AuthorsSari Hanafi (0000-0001-6953-6266, This is a revised version of the Third Annual Contributions to Indian Sociology: IEG-Sage Lecture held on 9 December 2023 at the India International Centre, New Delhi., corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume58
Issue2
Pages155-185
Publication date2024-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueContributions to Indian Sociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0069-9659 • E-ISSN: 0069-9667
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/00699659241305065
OpenAlexW4409465594
LanguageEN
References cited24

In my recent work, I argued that a bulk of the responses of the social sciences and/or sociology to the pathologies of late modernity have been defined as being classically liberal but politically illiberal-I call this peculiar combination 'Symbolic Liberalism'. Empowered by emotional and neoliberal capitalism, this kind of liberalism seeks to impose a hegemonic and deculturised conception of the good. In this article, I will focus on the consequences of such an imposition in two sites related to religion: secularism and sexuality. In the context of a terribly polarised debate on these issues, I will defend a dialogical sociology that emphasises soft secularism and culturised sexuality-a sociology that strikes a balance between the collective and individual political liberal projects. This project is supposed to act seriously against social inequality and in favour of a conception of justice which allows for the plurality of the conception of the good

Economics · Factoring · Human sexuality · Liberalism · Political science · Politics · Secularism · Sociology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Gender Studies · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development · Religious studies

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