Editing Secularization (section)

{{Short description|Societal transition away from religion}}
{{other uses}}
In [[sociology]], '''secularization''' ({{langx|en-GB|'''secularisation'''}}) is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level."<ref name="Latre">{{cite journal |last1=Latré |first1=Stijn |last2=Vanheeswijck |first2=Guido |title=Secularization: History of the Concept |journal=International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences (Second Edition) |date=1 January 2015 |pages=388–394 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.03113-5|isbn=9780080970875 }}</ref> There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatically antithetical to religion.<ref name="Eller" /> Secularization has different connotations such as implying differentiation of secular from religious domains, the marginalization of religion in those domains, or it may also entail the transformation of religion as a result of its recharacterization (e.g. as a private concern, or as a non-political matter or issue).<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bullivant|first1=Stephen|last2=Lee|first2=Lois|year=2016|title=A Dictionary of Atheism|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780191816819}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ertit |first1=Volkan |title=Secularization: The Decline of the Supernatural Realm1 |journal=[[Religions (journal)|Religions]] |date=2018 |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=92 |doi=10.3390/rel9040092 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The '''secularization thesis''' expresses the idea that through the lens of the European [[Age of Enlightenment|enlightenment]] [[Modernization theory|modernization]], [[rationalization (sociology)|rationalization]], combined with the ascent of science and technology, religious authority diminishes in all aspects of social life and governance.<ref name=":0">[https://web.archive.org/web/20051208002707/http://ksghome.harvard.edu/~pnorris/ACROBAT/Sacred_and_Secular/Chapter%201.pdf "The Secularization Debate"], chapter 1 (pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dto-P2YfWJIC&dq=%22The+Secularization+Debate%22&pg=PA3 3]-[https://books.google.com/books?id=dto-P2YfWJIC&pg=PA32 32]) of {{cite book|first1= Pippa |last1= Norris |author-link1= Pippa Norris |first2= Ronald |last2= Inglehart |author-link2= Ronald Inglehart |title= Sacred and Secular. Religion and Politics Worldwide |url= https://archive.org/details/sacredsecularrel0000norr |url-access= registration |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]] |year= 2004 |isbn= 978-0-521-83984-6 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hekmatpour|first=Peyman|date=2020-06-01|title=Inequality and Religiosity in a Global Context: Different Secularization Paths for Developed and Developing Nations|url=https://doi.org/10.1080/00207659.2020.1771013|journal=International Journal of Sociology|volume=50|issue=4|pages=286–309|doi=10.1080/00207659.2020.1771013|s2cid=219748670|issn=0020-7659|url-access=subscription}}</ref> According to [[Pippa Norris]] and [[Ronald Inglehart]], global demographics are complex since "virtually all advanced industrial societies" have become more secular in recent decades while also stating that people with religious beliefs represent a growing share of the world population due to fertility rates.<ref name=":12">{{Cite book |last1=Norris |first1=Pippa |title=Sacred and secular : religion and politics worldwide |last2=Inglehart |first2=Ronald |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2011 |isbn=9781139128674 |edition=2nd |location=Cambridge |pages=Chapter 1 |oclc=767732041}}</ref>

In recent years, the secularization thesis has been challenged due to some global studies indicating that the irreligious population of the world may be in decline as a percentage of the world population due to irreligious countries having [[Sub-replacement fertility|subreplacement fertility]] rates and religious countries having higher birth rates in general.<ref name=":12" /><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ellis|first1=Lee|last2=Hoskin|first2=Anthony W.|last3=Dutton|first3=Edward|last4=Nyborg|first4=Helmuth|title=The Future of Secularism: a Biologically Informed Theory Supplemented with Cross-Cultural Evidence |journal=Evolutionary Psychological Science|date=8 March 2017|volume=3|issue=3|pages=224–242|doi=10.1007/s40806-017-0090-z|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40806-017-0090-z|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref name="CambridgeZuckerman">{{cite book|last=Zuckerman|first=Phil|editor1-last=Martin|editor1-first=Michael|title=The Cambridge Companion to Atheism|date=2006|doi=10.1017/CCOL0521842700.004|pages=47–66|chapter=3 - Atheism: Contemporary Numbers and Patterns|isbn=9781139001182}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=5eV3hMR7lmoC&dq=secularization+thesis&pg=PA253 Cultures and Globalization: Conflicts and Tensions] edited by Helmut K Anheier, Yudhishthir Raj Isar, SAGE, Mar 27, 2007, page 253</ref><ref>[http://www.sneps.net/RD/uploads/1-Shall%20the%20Religious%20Inherit%20the%20Earth.pdf Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century] by [[Eric Kaufmann]], Belfer Center, Harvard University/Birkbeck College, University of London</ref> Christian sociologist [[Peter L. Berger]] coined the term [[desecularization]] to describe this phenomenon.<ref>[https://academic.oup.com/jcs/article/52/2/232/781896 Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework] by Vyacheslav Karpov, Journal of Church and State, Volume 52, Issue 2, Spring 2010, Pages 232–270, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcs/csq058</ref> In addition, secularization rates are stalling or reversing in some countries/regions such as the countries in the former [[Soviet Union]] or large cities in the [[Western world]] with significant amounts of religious immigrants.<ref>[https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/eric-kaufmann/london-a-rising-island-of-religion_b_2336699.html London: A Rising Island of Religion in a Secular Sea] by [[Eric Kaufmann]], ''Huffington Post'', February 20, 2013</ref><ref>{{cite book| url= https://wcfia.harvard.edu/files/wcfia/files/723_moghadam03_03.pdf | title= A Global Resurgence of Religion? | author= [[Assaf Moghadam]] | publisher= Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, [[Harvard University]] | work= Paper No. 03-03 | date= August 2003 }}</ref> There is no particular monolithic direction or trend for secularization since, even in Europe, the trends in religious history and demographical religious measures (e.g. belief, belonging, etc) are mixed and make the region an exception compared to other parts of the world.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davie |first1=Grace |title=The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe |date=2022 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0198834267 |pages=270, 273, 278, 282 |chapter=15. Religion, Secularity, and Secularization in Europe}}</ref> Global studies show that many people who do not identify with a religion still hold religious beliefs and participate in religious practices.<ref name="Religiously Unaffiliated">{{cite web |url=http://www.pewforum.org/global-religious-landscape-unaffiliated.aspx |title=Religiously Unaffiliated |work=The Global Religious Landscape |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]]: Religion & Public Life |date=18 December 2012}}</ref><ref name="Unaff Yet Rel" /> The secular vs religion dichotomy is false and neither concept is mutually exclusive.<ref name="Eller" />