Understanding the New Visibility of Religion
Religion as Problem and Utility
In: Journal of Religion in EuropeThis article examines recent debates about the ‘return of religion’ to the European public sphere. It argues that there is widespread confusion between religion being more visible and religion having more impact on contemporary societies. The article asks what the 'new visibility of religion' means, how religion is contested and renegotiated in the public arena—or rather, in different publics—and what the effects of these struggles are on society, state and religion itself. It does so by providing an analytical overview five distinct approaches to the new visibility of religion: desecularization, de-privatization and post-secularity; the effects of ‘welfare utopianism’ on public religion; religion as a social problem; religion as expedient; and the mediatization or publicization of religion. The article concludes that what we are witnessing is a ‘secular return’ of religion, where religion is relevant for public discourse only by virtue of being either problematic or useful.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Anderson Karen M., , “The Church as Nation? The Role of Religion in the Development of the Swedish Welfare State,” in Manow Philip, and van Kersbergen Kees (eds), Religion, Class Coalitions, and Welfare States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 210–325.
-
Beaman Lori, “The Will to Religion: Obligatory Religious Citizenship,” Critical Research on Religion 1/2 (2013), 141–157.
-
Beckford James A., “The Sociology of Religion and Social Problems.” Sociological Analysis, 51/1 (1990), 1–14.
-
——, “Religious Diversity and Social Problems: The Case of Britain,” in Hjelm Titus (ed.), Religion and Social Problems (New York and London: Routledge, 2011), 53–66.
-
——, “sssr Presidential Address: Public Religions and the Postsecular: Critical Reflections,” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 51/1 (2012), 1–19.
-
Berger Peter L., The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion (Garden City, NY: Anchor, 1967).
-
——, “The Desecularization of the World: A Global Overview,” in Berger Peter L. (ed.) The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1999), 1–18.
-
Bowen John R., Why the French Don’t Like Headscarves: Islam, the State, and Public Space (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007).
-
Bruce Steve, , “The Curious Case of the Unnecessary Recantation: Berger and Secularization,” in Woodhead Linda, with Paul Heelas and Martin David (eds), Peter L. Berger and the Study of Religion (London: Routledge, 2001), 87–100.
-
——, Secularization: In Defence of an Unfashionable Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011).
-
Calhoun Craig, , Juergensmayer Mark, & VanAntwerpen Jonathan, , “Introduction,” in Craig Calhoun, Juergensmayer Mark, and VanAntwerpen Jonathan (eds), Rethinking Secularism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 1–30.
-
Callinicos Alex, Social Theory: A Historical Introduction (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007).
-
Casanova José, Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994).
-
——, “Rethinking secularization: a global comparative perspective.”, The Hedgehog Review 8/1–2 (2006), 7–22.
-
Clark, Lynn Schofield, From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media, and the Supernatural (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).
-
Clifford James, , “Introduction: Partial Truths,” in Clifford James, and Marcus George E. (eds), Writing Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986).
-
cnn (2013), ‘Muslim Vigilantes Bring Sharia Law to London’, available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2IiSHQntis (accessed 19 September 2014).
-
Cumper Peter, & Lewis Tom, (eds) Religion, Rights and Secular Society: European Perspectives (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2012).
-
Davie Grace, Religion in Britain since 1945 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994).
-
Davis Derek H., , “George W. Bush and Church-State Partnerships to Administer Social Service Programs: Cautions and Concerns,” in Hjelm Titus (ed.), Religion and Social Problems (New York: Routledge, 2011), 186–197.
-
Dillon Michele, “Can Post-Secular Society Tolerate Religious Differences?” Sociology of Religion, 71/2 (2010), 39–56.
-
Dinham Adam, Faiths, Public Policy and Civil Society: Problems, Policies, Controversies (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).
-
Dinham Adam, & Jackson Robert, “Religion, Welfare and Education,” in Linda Woodhead and Rebecca Catto (eds), Religion and Change in Modern Britain (London: Routledge, 2010), 271 –294.
-
El-Menouar Yasemin, & Becker Melanie, , “Islam and Integration in German Media Discourse,” in Hjelm Titus (ed.), Religion and Social Problems (New York and London: Routledge, 2011), 229–244.
-
Farnsley Arthur E., , “Faith-based Initiatives,” in Beckford James A., and Jay Demerath N. (eds), The Sage Handbook of the Sociology of Religion (London: Sage, 2007), 345–356.
-
Göle Nilüfer, “The public visibility of Islam and European politics of resentment: The minarets-mosques debate,” Philosophy & Social Criticism 37/4 (2011), 383–392.
-
Gorski Philip S., , Kyuman Kim David, , Torpey John, & VanAntwerpen Jonathan, , “The Post-Secular in Question,” in Gorski Philip S., , Kyuman Kim David, , Torpey John, and VanAntwerpen Jonathan (eds), The Post-Secular in Question: Religion in Contemporary Society (New York: New York University Press, 2012), 1–22.
-
Habermas Jürgen, “Notes on a Post-Secular Society,” Sign and Sight (2008). [http://print.signandsight.com/features/1714, accessed 16 September 2014].
-
Hadden Jeffrey, “Toward Desacralizing Secularization Theory,” Social Forces, 65/3 (1987), 587–611.
-
Hasan Mehdi, “What the jihadists who bought ‘Islam for Dummies’ on Amazon tell us about radicalisation,” New Statesman, 21 August 2014. [http://www.newstatesman.com/religion/2014/08/what-jihadists-who-bought-islam-dummies-amazon-tell-us-about-radicalisation, accessed 17 September 14].
-
Herbert David, Religion and Civil Society: Rethinking Public Religion in the Contemporary World (Farnham: Ashgate, 2003).
-
——, “Theorizing Religion and Media in Contemporary Societies: An Account of religious ‘Publicization’,” European Journal of Cultural Studies 14/6 (2011), 626–648.
-
Hjarvard S., (2012), ‘ Three Forms of Mediatized Religion: Changing the Public Face of Religion’, in Hjarvard S., and Lövheim M. (eds), Mediatization and Religion: Nordic Perspectives. Gothenburg: Nordicom, pp. 21–44.
-
Hobsbawm Eric, The Age of Empire, 1875–1914 (London: Abacus, 1987).
-
Hjelm Titus, , “Religion and Social Problems: Three Perspectives,” in Hjelm Titus (ed.), Religion and Social Problems (New York: Routledge, 2011), 1–11.
-
——, “Introduction: Islam and Muslims in European News Media,” Journal of Religion in Europe, 5/2 (2012), 137–139.
-
——, ‘ Religion, Discourse and Power: Outline of a Critical Agenda for the Sociology of Religion’. Critical Sociology, 40/6 (2014a), 855–871.
-
——, Social Constructionisms: Approaches to the Study of the Human World (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014b).
-
——, ‘ Paradoxes of Religious Legitimacy and Authenticity in an Age of Expediency’. A paper presented at the annual conference of the British Sociological Association, 24 April 2014.
-
——, Is God Back? Reconsidering the New Visibility of Religion (London: Bloomsbury Academic, forthcoming).
-
Knott K., Poole, Elizabeth & Taira, Teemu, Media Portrayals of Religion and the Secular Sacred (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2013).
-
Lehtinen Sanna, , “Fighting against Unemployment: Finnish Parishes as Agents in European Social Fund Projects,” in Hjelm Titus (ed.), Religion and Social Problems (New York: Routledge, 2011), 67–81.
-
McLennan Gregor, “Towards Postsecular Sociology?” Sociology 41/5 (2007), 857–870.
-
McCrea Ronan, Religion and the Public Order of the European Union (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
-
Mannheim K. Diagnosis of Our Time (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1944).
-
Manow Philip, & van Kersbergen Kees, ,” Religion and the Western Welfare State – The Theoretical Context,” in Manow Philip, and van Kersbergen Kees (eds), Religion, Class Coalitions, and Welfare States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 1–38.
-
Micklethwait John, & Wooldridge Alan, God is Back: How the Global Rise of Faith is Changing the World (London: Penguin, 2009).
-
Moberg Marcus, , Granholm Kennet, & Nynäs Peter, , “Trajectories of Post-Secular Complexity: An Introduction,” in Nynäs Peter, , Lassander Mika, and Utriainen Terhi (eds), Post-Secular Society (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2012), 1–25.
-
Østebø, Marit Tolo, Haukanes Haldis, & Blystad Astrid, “Strong State Policies on Gender and Aid: Threats and Opportunities for Norwegian Faith-Based Organisations,” Forum for Development Studies, 40/2 (2013), 193–216.
-
Spickard James V., “What is Happening to Religion? Six Sociological Narratives,” Nordic Journal of Religion and Society, 19/1 (2006), 13–29.
-
Thompson J.B. (1990), Ideology and Modern Culture. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
-
——, Media and Modernity: A Social Theory of the Media (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1995).
-
Turner Bryan S., Religion and Social Theory. Second Edition (London: Sage, 1991).
-
Ward Graham, and Hoelzl Michael, , “Introduction,” in Ward Graham, and Hoelzl Michael (eds), The New Visibility of Religion: Studies in Religion and Cultural Hermeneutics (London: Continuum, 2008), 1–14.
-
Woodhead Linda, , “Introduction,” in Woodhead Linda, and Catto Rebecca (eds), Religion and Change in Modern Britain (London: Routledge, 2010), 1–33.
-
——, “Liberal Religion and Illiberal Secularism,” in Gavin D’Costa, Evans Malcolm, , Modood Tariq, and Rivers Julian (eds), Religion in a Liberal State (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 93–116.
-
5
Cf. David Herbert, “Theorizing Religion and Media in Contemporary Societies: An Account of religious ‘Publicization’,” European Journal of Cultural Studies 14/6 (2011), 626–648, at 632.
-
7
Nilüfer Göle, “The public visibility of Islam and European politics of resentment: The minarets-mosques debate,” Philosophy & Social Criticism 37/4 (2011), 383–392, at 388.
-
8
James V. Spickard, “What is Happening to Religion? Six Sociological Narratives,” Nordic Journal of Religion and Society, 19/1 (2006), 13–29.
-
11
José Casanova, Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1994), 212.
-
15
Casanova, Public Religions, 19–39. In later work Casanova has toned down even the connection between modernity and differentiation: José Casanova, “Rethinking secularization: a global comparative perspective,” The Hedgehog Review 8/1–2 (2006), 7–22.
-
18
Jürgen Habermas, “Notes on a Post-Secular Society,” Sign and Sight (2008). [http://print.signandsight.com/features/1714, (accessed 16 September 2014); Michele Dillon, “Can Post-Secular Society Tolerate Religious Differences?” Sociology of Religion, 71/2 (2010), 39–56; Steve Bruce, Secularization: In Defence of an Unfashionable Theory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 203.
-
22
Lori Beaman, “The Will to Religion: Obligatory Religious Citizenship,” Critical Research on Religion ½ (2013), 141–157, at 146; cf. Gregor McLennan, “Towards Postsecular Sociology?” Sociology 41/5 (2007), 857–870.
-
27
Adam Dinham, Faiths, Public Policy and Civil Society: Problems, Policies, Controversies (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009); Adam Dinham and Robert Jackson, “Religion, Welfare and Education,” in Linda Woodhead and Rebecca Catto (eds.), Religion and Change in Modern Britain (London: Routledge, 2010), 271–294.
-
29
Woodhead, “Introduction,” 1; Linda Woodhead, “Liberal Religion and Illiberal Secularism,” in Gavin D’Costa, Malcolm Evans, Tariq Modood and Julian Rivers (eds.), Religion in a Liberal State (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), 93–116.
-
32
Alex Callinicos, Social Theory: A Historical Introduction (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007).
-
34
Grace Davie, Religion in Britain since 1945 (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994); Karen M. Anderson, “The Church as Nation? The Role of Religion in the Development of the Swedish Welfare State,” in Philip Manow and Kees van Kersbergen (eds.), Religion, Class Coalitions, and Welfare States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 210–325.
-
43
Ronan McCrea, Religion and the Public Order of the European Union (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010).
-
45
Mehdi Hasan, “What the jihadists who bought ‘Islam for Dummies’ on Amazon tell us about radicalisation,” New Statesman, 21 August 2014. http://www.newstatesman.com/religion/2014/08/what-jihadists-who-bought-islam-dummies-amazon-tell-us-about-radicalisation, (accessed 17 September 2014).
-
48
Titus Hjelm, “Introduction: Islam and Muslims in European News Media,” Journal of Religion in Europe, 5/2 (2012), 137–139.
-
54
Titus Hjelm, “Paradoxes of Religious Legitimacy and Authenticity in an Age of Expediency.” A paper presented at the annual conference of the British Sociological Association, 24 April 2014; Titus Hjelm, “Religion, Discourse and Power: Outline of a Critical Agenda for the Sociology of Religion,” Critical Sociology, 40/6 (2014a), 855–871.
-
59
e.g. Lynn Schofield Clark, From Angels to Aliens: Teenagers, the Media, and the Supernatural (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005).
-
63
Jeffrey Hadden, “Toward Desacralizing Secularization Theory,” Social Forces, 65/3 (1987), 587–611.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 568 | 163 | 13 |
| Full Text Views | 347 | 26 | 8 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 175 | 78 | 12 |
Understanding the New Visibility of Religion
Religion as Problem and Utility
In: Journal of Religion in EuropeThis article examines recent debates about the ‘return of religion’ to the European public sphere. It argues that there is widespread confusion between religion being more visible and religion having more impact on contemporary societies. The article asks what the 'new visibility of religion' means, how religion is contested and renegotiated in the public arena—or rather, in different publics—and what the effects of these struggles are on society, state and religion itself. It does so by providing an analytical overview five distinct approaches to the new visibility of religion: desecularization, de-privatization and post-secularity; the effects of ‘welfare utopianism’ on public religion; religion as a social problem; religion as expedient; and the mediatization or publicization of religion. The article concludes that what we are witnessing is a ‘secular return’ of religion, where religion is relevant for public discourse only by virtue of being either problematic or useful.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 568 | 163 | 13 |
| Full Text Views | 347 | 26 | 8 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 175 | 78 | 12 |