SOC717 Sociology of modernization: religion and secularism

Faculty of Social Studies
Spring 2017
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
PhDr. Roman Vido, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Mgr. Petra Závorková (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Ladislav Rabušic, CSc.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Ing. Soňa Enenkelová
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The main objective of the course is to analyze the position of religion in modern societies for the purpose of improving our understanding of contemporary problems associated with religious issues. Key concepts discussed in this context are modernization and secularization. In the course students will be confronted with prominent figures of sociology of religion who dealt extensively with these topics. The existence of secularization paradigm and its adequacy for analysis and interpretation of contemporary religious trends in European societies will be debated. Students should learn about complexity of the problem of secularization and its key aspects (levels of secularization, problem of applicability, pro- and anti-secularization factors etc.) A portion of time will be spent on critique of some elements of secularization theories as well as the concept of secularization itself. Methodological issues concerned with operationalization of the concept in empirical research will be also discussed.
Syllabus
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Classics and sociology of religion
  • 3. Religion in modern societies
  • 4. Secularization theories
  • 5. Alternatives to secularization theories
  • 6. Religion and plurality of modernities
  • 7. Mainstream religions in the Western world
  • 8. Religious pluralism and alternative religions
  • 9. Deprivatization of religion and religious fundamentalism
  • 10. Religion and globalization
  • 11. Religion in everyday life
  • 12. Sociology of religion in 21st century
Literature
  • NEŠPOR, Zdeněk and Dušan LUŽNÝ. Sociologie náboženství (Sociology of Religions). 1st ed. Praha: Portál, 2007, 236 pp. 1;. ISBN 978-80-7367-251-5. info
  • DAVIE, Grace. The sociology of religion. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2007, xi, 283. ISBN 9780761948926. info
  • LUŽNÝ, Dušan. Řád a moc. Vybrané texty ze sociologie náboženství (Order and power. Selected texts from sociology of religion). 1st ed. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2005, 375 pp. Religionistika 12. ISBN 80-210-3043-7. info
  • MCGUIRE, Meredith B. Religion : the social context. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning, 2002, xvii, 413. ISBN 0534541267. info
  • LUŽNÝ, Dušan. Náboženství a moderní společnost: Sociologické teorie modernizace a sekularizace (Religion and Modern Society). Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1999, 183 pp. Religionistika, sv. 6. ISBN 80-210-2224-8. info
Assessment methods
Students must write an essay and pass a final written exam.
Language of instruction
Czech
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course is taught annually.
The course is taught: in blocks.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2007, Spring 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2010, Spring 2011, Spring 2012, Spring 2013, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2018.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2017, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/spring2017/SOC717