Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide (Cambridge Studies in Social Theory, Religion and Politics) - Softcover

Norris, Pippa; Inglehart, Ronald

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1107648378 ISBN 13: 9781107648371

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Seminal nineteenth-century thinkers predicted that religion would gradually fade in importance with the emergence of industrial society. The belief that religion was dying became the conventional wisdom in the social sciences during most of the twentieth century. The traditional secularization thesis needs updating, however, religion has not disappeared and is unlikely to do so. Nevertheless, the concept of secularization captures an important part of what is going on. This book develops a theory of existential security. It demonstrates that the publics of virtually all advanced industrial societies have been moving toward more secular orientations during the past half century, but also that the world as a whole now has more people with traditional religious views than ever before. This second edition expands the theory and provides new and updated evidence from a broad perspective and in a wide range of countries. This confirms that religiosity persists most strongly among vulnerable populations, especially in poorer nations and in failed states. Conversely, a systematic erosion of religious practices, values, and beliefs has occurred among the more prosperous strata in rich nations.

About this title

Book Description:

Nineteenth-century thinkers predicted that religion would gradually fade in importance with the emergence of industrial society, and the belief that religion was dying became the conventional wisdom in the social sciences during most of the twentieth century. Today, religion has not disappeared and is unlikely to do so, but the concept of secularization captures an important part of what is going on. In this context, this book develops a theory of secularization and existential security. This second edition confirms that the publics of advanced industrial societies have been moving toward more secular orientations during the past fifty years, but also that the world as a whole now has more people with traditional religious views than ever before.

About the Author:

Pippa Norris is the McGuire Lecturer in Comparative Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a visiting professor at Sydney University. Her work analyzes comparative elections and public opinion, gender politics, and political communications. Companion volumes by this author and Ronald Inglehart, also published by Cambridge University Press, include Rising Tide (2003) and Cosmopolitan Communications (2009).

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1107648378
• ISBN 13: 9781107648371
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 392