Multiple Modernities and Postsecular Societies (Global Connections (Hardcover))

Engaging with the idea that the world reveals not one, but many routes to modernity, this volume explores the role of religion in the emergence of multiple forms of modernity, which evolve according to specific cultural conditions and interpretations of the 'modern project'. It draws upon case study material from Africa, The Middle East, Russia and South America to examine the question of whether modernity, democracy and secularism are universalistic concepts or are, on the contrary, unique to Western civilization, whilst considering the relationship of postsecularism to the varied paths of modern development. Drawing together work from leading social theorists, this critical theoretical contribution to current debates will appeal to sociologists, social theorists and political scientists, with interests in religion, secularization and postsecularization theory and transitions to modernity in the contemporary globalized world.

Massimo Rosati is Director of the Centre for the Study and Documentation of Religions and Political Institutions in Post-Secular Society and teaches sociology at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy. He is author of Ritual and the Sacred and co-editor of Suffering and Evil. Kristina Stoeckl is APART Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Vienna and author of Community after Totalitarianism.