From Salvation to Selfation? Subjectivisation among Dutch Christian youngsters
Tomorrow my colleague Johan Roeland will defend his PhD thesis: Selfation – Dutch Evangelical Youth Between Subjectivization and Subjection
Published by AUP.
You can download the thesis at VU DARE. Unfortunately I cannot be there because of teaching obligations but I would like to recommend his book to you. Besides the fact that many of his findings corresponds with that of mine (and other’s) research among Muslim (salafi) youth, it is one of the best accounts of religious life among Dutch orthodox-christian youth.
In the social-scientific study of religion, two theories on the history, development and fate of religion in West-Europe and the United States have been dominant. On the one hand, the secularisation-thesis supporting the conviction that religion in this part of the world is on the decline, both in social and individual respect. On the other hand, the sacralisation-thesis stressing the idea of a lasting and even growing significance of religion, visible in the resurgence of Christianity in charismatic and evangelical forms, the increasing awareness of religious fundamentalism, and the rise of new-religious movements and implicit religious sentiments connected to phenomena such as sport, well-being, health, spirituality, art and internet.
Recently, some scholars in the field (among them Anton van Harskamp, Paul Heelas and Linda Woodhead), dissatisfied with the two main theoretical frameworks, developed a third theory, referred to as the subjectivisation-thesis. In the first place they recognise that the West currently witnesses both secularisation and sacralisation, and secondly, that both developments are an expression of – what scholars like Charles Taylor, Ronald Inglehard and Robert Bellah have indicated as – the subjective turn in modern culture.
In this present qualitative research, which is based on fieldwork in Houten, a suburban area in the Netherlands, I will investigate whether the subjectivisation-thesis is a fruitful theory to describe and explain current modes of evangelical and charismatic Christianity among Dutch Christian youngsters. Both the evangelical and charismatic movement have increased in popularity in recent years, especially among young people, and have become a visible, lively and attractive phenomenon in the Dutch religious scene. My main question addresses the extension of these modes of religiosity in terms of subjectivization among young people. I will answer this question by focusing on three aspects of subjectivisation: identity, subjectivity and experience.
Het voorheen vanzelfsprekende denkbeeld van de onvermijdelijke afname van de betekenis van religie in Noordwest Europa staat meer en meer ter discussie. Religie lijkt niet zozeer te verdwijnen, maar ze lijkt subjectief en persoonlijk te worden, gericht op de individuele religieuze beleving. In zijn proefschrift onderzoekt Johan Roeland in hoeverre de dominante opvatting over religieuze veranderingen houdbaar is.
Roeland deed een kwalitatief onderzoek naar een van de meest populaire manifestaties van Protestantisme in Nederland: evangelicalisme onder Nederlandse jongeren. Hij neemt de lezer in zijn proefschrift mee naar de settings en gemeenschappen waarin deze jongeren hun geloof beleven en vorm geven. Tevens bespreekt hij de morele en ideologische repertoires aan de hand waarvan deze jongeren gestalte geven aan hun religiositeit, de wijze waarop hun connectie met het heilige is bemiddeld, en de implicaties hiervan voor de discussies over de aard en toekomst van religie in Noordwest Europa.
