Secularization

Working Conference: January 2006

In January 2006, the Institute hosted a one-day conference on religion and secularization in the Rotunda at the University of Virginia with invited scholars José Casanova, Talal Asad, and Pippa Norris. The conversation took up the following quandary: Despite the predictions of many social scientists, religion has not disappeared from public life, either through the waning of religious belief and practice or through its privatization or expulsion from the public sphere. Given this, is secularization theory still useful, perhaps with some revision, to understand the role of religion in the contemporary world? Or, is a new theory, paradigm, or discourse needed to replace secularization theory?

Papers from this conference were published in the Spring/Summer 2006 issue of The Hedgehog Review.