Synopses & Reviews
August Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud predicted that religion would gradually fade in importance and cease to be significant with the emergence of industrial society. Their belief that religion was dying became conventional wisdom in the social sciences during most of the twentieth century. However, this analysis reveals that the traditional secularization thesis needs updating now. Religion has not disappeared and is unlikely to do so, even though secularization has had a surprisingly powerful negative impact on human fertility rates.
Review
"This book is an impressive, well-documented, systematic examination of empirical evidence from many countries and cultures. It does not claim to resolve the secularization debate, but moves it to a new, more informed, and enlightening level..."
R.L. Herrick, emeritus, Westmar University"This is a landmark book that deserves to be read widely and closely. It is rigorously grounded, carefully researched, and cogently argued ... A rare coup de grace in the form of a sharp and elegant empirical thrust to the heart of a protracted debate... Overall, this is a landmark book that deserves to be read widely and closely. It is rigorously grounded, carefully researched, and cogently argued... While not a holy text, it merits the kind of exegesis that many such texts receive."
N. J. Demerath, American Journal of Sociology"Sacred and Secular is a very well-structured book, enriched by valuable survey data. It engages in important debates on development and secularization with its methodological elegancy and theoretical parsimony. It is a significant source to understand the classical social scientific approach to religion and a necessary basis to locate conflicting arguments on the field."
Ahmet T. Kuru, University of Washington, Comparative Political Studies"Norris &Inglehart's book is a pleasure to read and an inspiration for scholars for its effort to generate solid knowledge on a much-debated question. Along the way, the reader will find much fascinating material..."
Journal of Peace Research
Synopsis
Sacred and Secular demonstrates that: (1) The publics of virtually all advanced industrial societies have been moving toward more secular orientations during the past fifty years; but (2) The world as a whole now has more people with traditional religious views than ever before - and they constitute a growing proportion of the world's population. Though these two propositions may seem contradictory, they are not. The fact that the first proposition is true, helps account for the second - because secularization has a surprisingly powerful negative impact on human fertility rates.
Synopsis
Sacred and Secular is essential reading for anyone interested in comparative religion, sociology, public opinion, political behavior, political development, social psychology, international relations, and cultural change.
Synopsis
Sacred and Secular demonstrates that: (1) The publics of virtually all advanced industrial societies have been moving toward more secular orientations during the past fifty years; but (2) The world as a whole now has more people with traditional religious views than ever before - and they constitute a growing proportion of the world's population. Though these two propositions may seem contradictory, they are not. The fact that the first proposition is true, helps account for the second - because secularization has a surprisingly powerful negative impact on human fertility rates.
Synopsis
Sacred and Secular examines the validity of the secularization thesis.
Table of Contents
Part I. Understanding Secularization: 1. The secularization debate; 2. Measuring secularization; 3. Comparing secularization worldwide; Part II. Case Studies of Religion and Politics: 4. The puzzle of religiosity in the United States and Western Europe; 5. A religious revival in post-communist Europe?; 6. Religion and politics in the Muslim world; Part III. The Consequences of Secularization: 7. Religion, the Protestant ethic, and moral values; 8. Religious organizations and social capital; 9. Religious parties and electoral behaviour; Part IV. Conclusions: 10. Consequences.