Secularization and Social Integration: Papers in honor of Karel Dobbelaere (Sociologie Vandaag / Sociology Today, 4)

Cloth hardcover, xvi + 338 pages, NOT ex-library. Faint extensive staining on the boards, faint traces of water damage and a bit of wrinkling inside the book. Else clean and bright interior with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Some very sparse, gentle spotting on outer page edges. Bright untorn dust jacket shows a bit of wrinkling and moderate wear. -- An international Festschrift honoring the career of the Belgian sociologist Karel Dobbelaere upon his retirement from the Catholic University of Leuven. The volume brings together leading global scholars to engage with Dobbelaere's influential "three-level" theory of secularization. Core Themes and Structure: The book is organized into four thematic parts that reflect the primary pillars of Dobbelaere's sociological research: - The Secularization Thesis: Scholars evaluate Dobbelaere's specific framework, which distinguishes between secularization at the societal level (separation of church and state), the organizational level (the internal change of religious institutions), and the individual level (the decline of personal belief). - Theoretical Perspectives: Contributors revisit classical resources, such as the works of Durkheim, Weber, and Simmel, to analyze contemporary religious transformations in the West. - Social Integration and Case Studies: This section explores the relationship between secularization and social solidarity. It includes specific case studies on pillarization (social segmentation based on religion) in countries like Japan and Belgium. - Identity and Meaning: The final chapters investigate how religion remains a resource for personal identity and the creation of "social bonds" even in highly secularized contexts. The volume features essays from some of the most prominent figures in the sociology of religion, including: Bryan Wilson (a leading proponent of secularization theory from Oxford), James A. Beckford (writes on social constructionist views of solidarity), Danièle Hervieu-Léger (analyzes religious modernity through the lens of conversion).…