Bücher der Reihe Religion and Its Others

Questions of secularity and modernity have become globalized, but most studies still focus on the West. This book explores the developments in five areas of the world, some of which were hitherto situated at the margins of international scholarly discussions: Africa, the Arab World, East Asia, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe.

This volume breaks new ground by comparatively exploring developments in five areas of the world, some of which were hitherto situated at the margins of international scholarly discussions: Africa, the Arab World, East Asia, South Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Global Secularisms addresses the state of and prospects for secularism globally. It brings together theoretical discussion and empirical case studies that illustrate the "on-the-ground," actually existing secularisms as they interact with various religious, political, social, and economic contexts.

There has been a dramatic increase in the percentage of the US population that is not religious. However, there is, to date, very little research on the social movement that is organizing to serve the needs of and advocate for the nonreligious in the US. This is a book about the rise and structure of organized secularism in the United States. By organized secularism we mean the efforts of nonreligious individuals to build institutions, networks, and ultimately a movement that serves their interests in a predominantly religious society. Researchers from various fields address questions such as: What secularist organizations exist? Who are the members of these organizations? What kinds of organizations do they create? What functions do these organizations provide for their members? How do the secularist organizations of today compare to those of the past? And what is their likely impact on the future of secularism? For anyone trying to understand the rise of the nonreligious in the US, this book will provide valuable insights into organized efforts to normalize their worldview and advocate for their equal treatment in society.

How to study the contemporary dynamics between the religious, the nonreligious and the secular in a globalizing world? Obviously, their relationship is not an empirical datum, liable to the procedures of verification or of logical deduction. We are in need of alternative conceptual and methodological tools. This volume argues that the concept of 'social imaginary' as it is used by Charles Taylor, is of utmost importance as a methodological tool to understand these dynamics. The first section is dedicated to the conceptual clarification of Taylor's notion of social imaginaries both through a historical study of their genealogy and through conceptual analysis. In the second section, we clarify the relation of 'social imaginaries' to the concept of (religious) worldviewing, understood as a process of truth seeking. Furthermore, we discuss the practical usefulness of the concept of social imaginaries for cultural scientists, by focusing on the concept of human rights as a secular social imaginary. In the third and final section, we relate Taylor's view on the role of social imaginaries and the new paths it opens up for religious studies to other analyses of the secular-religious divide, as they nowadays mainly come to the fore in the debates on what is coined as the 'post-secular.'

Charles Taylor's monumental book A Secular Age has been extensively discussed, criticized, and worked on. This volume, by contrast, explores ways of working with Taylor's book, especially its potentials and limits for individual research projects.

The major significance of this volume consists in the interdisciplinary study of religious and secular imaginaries from the divergent viewpoints of philosophy, religious studies and social sciences. It aims to explore 'social imaginaries' as an appropriate conceptual tool to understand the challenges raised by contemporary worldview diversity. It offers a new perspective to study these challenges in ways helpful for coping with them.

Die vorliegende Studie rekonstruiert die historische Entwicklung freigeistiger Organisationen in Deutschland nach 1945 und speziell seit der humanistischen Wende in den 1980er Jahren. Dabei wird eine Organisationstypologie entwickelt, die weltanschauliche Entwicklungen und strategische Spannungen innerhalb der freigeistigen Szene offenlegt und gängige säkularisierungstheoretische Wahrnehmungsmuster hinterfragt.