Processes of religious individualisation: stocktaking and issues for the future

The paper spells out implications of a perspective on religious individualisation that is both comparative and analytical and discusses the various issues that this line of research has to confront. Arguing against notions of modern Western exceptionalism, it points to the selectivity of Western for...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fuchs, Martin 1950- (Author)
Format: Electronic/Print Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group [2015]
In: Religion
Year: 2015, Volume: 45, Issue: 3, Pages: 330-343
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Religion / Individualization / Comparative religion / Social process
IxTheo Classification:AA Study of religion
AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
Online Access: Volltext (doi)
Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
Description
Summary:The paper spells out implications of a perspective on religious individualisation that is both comparative and analytical and discusses the various issues that this line of research has to confront. Arguing against notions of modern Western exceptionalism, it points to the selectivity of Western forms of (religious) individualisation and makes a case for the inclusion of additional forms of articulating individual agency and ‘selfhood'. The paper takes individualisation as an inter-subjective, social phenomenon and connects it to the concept of social imaginaries. Opposing standard concepts of modernisation the paper nevertheless brings processuality centre stage, emphasising contingency. The paper discusses the possibility of the convergence of contextual developmental trends and the question of transculturality of notions of self and agency. With reference to the dimension of critique included in visions of religious individualisation, the paper finally points to the effects processes of religious individualisation can have on human actors within, and beyond, the realm of spirituality, including the recognition of subjectivities and the strengthening of actors’ resilience.
ISSN:0048-721X
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/0048721X.2015.1024035