Publication – The Quest for Religious Purity in New Age, Evangelicalism and Islam

Posted on January 21st, 2011 by martijn.
Categories: Important Publications, ISIM/RU Research, Public Islam, Religion Other, Religious and Political Radicalization.

Together with my colleagues of Erasmus University Rotterdam, Johan Roeland, Stef Aupers, Dick Houtman and Ineke Noomen, I have written an article the first edition of the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion, published by Brill on the quest for religious purity in the Netherlands.

Taken as a prime model of secularization north European societies have religion more or less confined to the private sphere and religion appears to have less significance in social and public life. In particular Christianity appears to have lost much of its former appeal. Quite a number of authors have argued however that the secularization paradigm is challenged by obvious developments in Western societies, that do witness – albeit to varying degrees – to what José Casanova (1994) called the ‘de-privatization’ of religion. While, from a normative perspective that regards religion as a private matter, public religion is an anomaly, from an empirical perspective it is a reality. This de-privatization of religion appears to have broken the „secularist truce? that guaranteed religious freedom on the one hand, while banning religion from the public sphere on the other.

In our article we discusses contemporary religious discourses and practices among New Age, Evangelical and Salafi Muslim youth in the Netherlands. The three are nowadays not only embraced much more enthusiastically by the younger generations than any other type of religion, but moreover attain some striking features in their hands that serve to set them apart from the traditional types of church-based or mosque-based religion embraced by older generations of faithful. By discussing Luckmann’s (1967) classical account of modern religion as radically privatized we argue that among young Dutch New Agers, Evangelicals and Muslims religion is neither ephemeral and superficial, nor socially unorganized, nor publicly insignificant.
Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion – BRILL

The purpose of the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion (ARSR) is to investigate the “new” role of religion in the contemporary world, which is characterized by cultural pluralism and religious individualism.

It is the aim of the ARSR to combine different methods within the social scientific study of religion. The ARSR employs an interdisciplinary and comparative approach at an international level, to describe and interpret the complexity of religious phenomena within different geopolitical situations, highlighting similarities and discontinuities. Dealing with a single theme in each volume, the ARSR intends to tackle the relationship between the practices and the dynamics of everyday life and the different religions and spiritualities, within the framework of the post-secular society. All contributions are welcome, both those studying organizational aspects and those exploring individual religiosity.

Contents

  • Preliminary Material (i-x
  • Differential Reconstruction Of Religions Among Second Generation Immigrant Youth In Canada (1-28) by Peter Beyer
  • Youth, Spirituality, And Religion In Canada And Quebec (29-64) by Solange Lefebvre and K. Gandhar Chakravarty
  • Brazilian University Students And Religion (65-88) by Ari Pedro Oro and Mauro Meirelles
  • Developments In Spirituality Among Youth In Australia And Other Western Societies (89-114) by Michael Mason, Andrew Singleton and Ruth Webber
  • The Religiosity Of Youth In Australia And Thailand (115-146) by Philip Hughes
  • Youth And Religion In Modern China: A Sketch Of Social And Political Developments (147-162) by Fenggang Yang
  • Young People And Religion In France (163-192) by Céline Béraud and Jean-Paul Willaime
  • Youth And Religion In Finland (193-218) by Kati Niemelä
  • Dis)engagements With Christianity Amongst Young People In England And Scotland (219-250) by Giselle Vincett and Sylvia Collins-Mayo
  • German Youth: Neither Participants Nor Partakers In Religion? (251-288) by Gert Pickel
  • The Quest For Religious Purity In New Age, Evangelicalism And Islam Religious Renditions Of Dutch Youth And The Luckmann Legacy (289-306) by Johan Roeland, Stef Aupers, Dick Houtman, Martijn de Koning and Ineke Noomen
  1. Introduction
  2. Religious Privatization Or Religious Purification?
  3. Sociality Beyond Church And Mosque
  4. Pure Religion’s Social And Public Significance
  5. Conclusion: In Search Of Religious Purity
  6. References
  • Religion and Youth in Croatia (307-328) by Dinka Marinovi? Jerolimov and Boris Joki?
  • Young Muslims Of Italy. Islam In The Everyday Life And The Public Visibility Of A New Generation Of Muslims (329-352) by Annalisa Frisina
  • Believers In Progress Youth And Religion In Italy (353-382) by Giuseppe Giordan
  • Lifestyles And Religion (383-402) by Luigi Berzano
  • Visual Sociology And Religion (403-420) by Roberto Cipriani and Emanuela C. Del Re
  • The United States: God Bless America (421-438) by William H. Swatos Jr.
  • Religion In The Netherlands (439-460) by Erik Sengers
  • Religion And Politics In Portugal: Religious Landscape And Prospective Developments (461-478) by Helena Vilaça
  • List Of Contributors (479-488)

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