010056 VO Contemporary Approaches to Religion in Sociology and Cultural Analysis (2009S)

This course will introduce students to the current debates in sociology of religion about the nature of (religious) modernity in Eastern Europe. The available empirical materials on religion and values will be presented within (contested) theoretical frameworks, such as the theory of secularization and its counterpart, the thesis of global de-secularization of the world. We will also look at the theory of modernization and its counterpart, the thesis of multiple modernities. A number of sociological studies have shown that religion continues to be a powerful actor in the public and private lives of individuals and an important source of identity formation. Describing modern religion, scholars used the terms "bricollage," "patchwork religion," "drive to heresy," and "believing without belonging." Are these concepts applicable to Eastern European cultures? Do religious traditions of this part of Europe change themselves by adapting to the secular world? This course will lead students through a number of the most influential academic articles and will provide conceptual instruments to trace signs of religious revival in various contexts of Eastern Europe.