Secularization and Contemporary Religious Renewal in Europe

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Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger
l鈥櫭塩ole des Hautes 脡tudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris

Date:聽November 16, 2009

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This program is organized by the D茅l茅gation g茅n茅rale de l鈥橝lliance Francaise aux 脡tats-Unis, with the support of the Fondation Alliance Fran莽aise.聽 It is co-sponsored at Boston College by the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life, the Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy, and the Department of Romance Languages and Literature.

Abstract

Declining religious belief and changes in the relationships between church and state have dramatically altered the European religious landscape over the past two hundred years. On November 16 Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger, a renowned sociologist of religions at l鈥櫭塩ole des Hautes 脡tudes en Sciences Sociales (the premier French graduate school of social science), explored the process of secularization and religious renewal in Europe.

Speaker Bio

Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger

Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger聽is the director of studies at l鈥櫭塩ole des Hautes 脡tudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris. An eminent scholar of the sociology of religions, Hervieu-L茅ger has devoted a significant part of her research to the theoretical interpretation of religion鈥檚 modern manifestations, including secularization, individualization of belief, forms of religiosity and of communalization and institutional transformations. Hervieu-L茅ger has been awarded the decoration of Chevalier de la L茅gion d鈥橦onneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor) for her academic achievement. Hervieu-L茅ger has published numerous articles and sixteen books that have been translated into several languages, including the following works in French, with a literal translation of each title provided:聽La religion en miettes ou la question des sectes听(Religion鈥檚 Break-up, or the Question of Sects) (Calmann-L茅vy, 2001),聽Sociologies et religion, Approches classiques听(Sociologies and Religion, Classic Approaches) (University Press in France, 2001), and聽Catholicisme, La fin d'un monde听(Catholicism, the End of a World) (Bayard, 2003),聽Religion as a Chain of Memory听(Rutgers, 2000).

Event Photos

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Professor Jonathan Laurence introduces the speaker

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Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger

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Professor Hervieu-L茅ger speaks to the lunch colloquia participants

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Photos by Kerry Burke, Boston College MTS Photography

Event Recap

Declining religious belief and changes in the relationships between church and state have dramatically altered the European religious landscape over the past two hundred years. On November 16 Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger, a renowned sociologist of religions at l鈥櫭塩ole des Hautes 脡tudes en Sciences Sociales (the premier French graduate school of social science), explored the process of secularization and religious renewal in Europe.

Hervieu-L茅ger began her presentation with a brief historical overview of European secularization. The term, she explained, is originally a legal one that indicates emancipation from religious authority in the modern period. In the wake of the Enlightenment 鈥渟ecularization鈥 denoted the weakening of the Church鈥檚 influence in the public sphere as well as the general loss of meaning of religion in a European society increasingly governed by scientific reasoning. Hervieu-L茅ger pointed to two main European models of secularization: On the one hand, an Anglo-Saxon model originating in the Reformation has stressed the development of pluralistic societies accomodating various religious traditions. On the other hand, the French process of la茂cit茅 has emphasized the creation of a society void of religion, and finds its roots in the French Revolution. According to Hervieu-L茅ger, both movements have seen the excision of religion from the public sphere as a basic condition for modernity.

Hervieu-L茅ger surveyed three popular understandings of the relationship between belief and modernity. The first ignores any connections between religion and scientific thought and has been widely regarded as problematic. A second understanding looks to religions as interruptions and disruptions in the modernization process. That is, religion fills the gaps science has not or cannot explain. A third model is a variation on the second, and views the religious self as a pilgrim trying to construct a religious identity, or a convert that chooses religion as an autonomous expression of the self.

Given the large influx of Muslim immigrants in Europe in recent decades, the relationship between society and religion can鈥檛 be ignored, said Hervieu-L茅ger. Indeed, it still forms part of European political and social institutions albeit implicitly. Recent incidents in Western Europe suggest a need for better integration and a more nuanced account of religion in the public sphere.

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Further Reading

"Religion and Modernity in the French Context: For a New Approach to Secularization" by Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger.

"" by Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger in Religion, Mobilization, and Social Action.

"" by Dani猫le Hervieu-L茅ger in The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Religion.