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Project

Anti-Islamism and Rejection of Public Religion in Western Europe. A Comparative Study of Anti-Religiosity in 21 Western European Countries, 1990-2008

This study comprises of a series of theoretically informed empirical analyses of anti-religiosity in Western Europe. In the West, atheism, secularism and anti-religiosity gain more and more attention in the media and in scientific literature. Mostly, this intense debate is being held between popular-scientists, theologians, philosophers, politicians and journalists. What scarcely attracts attention is a more empirical understanding of these phenomena. In the sociology of religion, culture and politics, the first steps are being made to fill in this gap. Still it is an important, but overlooked area for research. This PhD-project addresses this gap in the literature, by addressing the question as to where and why non-religious people turn anti-religious. Using theories from the secularization debate, this study tests several hypotheses on where the expect the non-religious to contest religion most. This entails an analysis of religious cultures, individual attitudes and political constellations. It also assesses the way general opposition to religion is different from opposition to specific religions, in particular to Islam. In doing so, this study feeds into debates on the privatization of religion, the so-called post-secular turn and the relation between secularization and cultural conflict.

 

Date:27 Jan 2014 →  6 Oct 2017
Keywords:Public Religion, Western Europe., Rejection, Anti-Islamism, Anti-Religiosity, Western European Countries, 1990-2008
Disciplines:Applied sociology, Policy and administration, Social psychology, Social stratification, Social theory and sociological methods, Sociology of life course, family and health, Other sociology and anthropology
Project type:PhD project