Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Church-State Relations and the Vitality of Religion in European Comparison

  • Chapter
Church and Religion in Contemporary Europe

Abstract

If, thirty or forty years ago, a social scientist had tried to determine the social position and development prospects of religion and the churches in modern societies, he would probably have relied on the secularization theory. This theory assumes that the modern age and religion are in a strained relationship to each other, and that the more modern a society becomes, the less socially relevant are religion and the churches turn out to be. Industrialization, tertiarization – the growth of the service industry – urbanization, increasing prosperity, higher education levels, higher mobility, rationalization, cultural pluralism, individualization – all these factors and whatever other processes are normally viewed as being typical of modernity have, so say the secularists, a negative effect on the continued existence of religion.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 59.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 74.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

6. References

  • Beckford, James/Luckmann, Thomas (eds.) (1989): The Changing Face of Religion. London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, Peter L. (1967): The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, Peter L. (1980): The Heretical Imperative: Contemporary Possibilities of Religious Affirmation. London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruce, Steve (ed.) (1992): Religion and Modernization: Sociologists and Historians Debate the Secularization Thesis. Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruce, Steve (1996): Religion in the Modern World: From Cathedrals to Cults. Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruce, Steve (1999): Choice and Religion: A Critique of Rational Choice Theory. Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruce, Steve (2002): God is Dead: Secularization in the West. Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Campiche, Roland J. (2002): Does Individualization still Constitute the Paradigm of Religion in Post-Modernity? Paper, given at the conference “Europe and the invisible religion” Zurich January 18-19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Casanova, Jose (1994): Public Religions in the Modern World. Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chaves, Mark/Cann, David (1992): Regulation, Pluralism and Religious Market Structure: Explaining Religion’s Vitality. Rationality and Society 4: 272-290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaves, Mark/Gorski, Philip (2001): Religious Pluralism and Religious Participation. In: Annual Review of Sociology 27: 261-281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cipriani, Roberto (1989): ‘Diffused Religion’ and New Values in Italy. In: Beckford/Luckmann (eds.): 24-48.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cipriani, Roberto (2006): Secularization or „diffused religion“? In: Franzmann/Gärtner/Köck (eds.): 123-142.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davie, Grace (1994): Religion in Britain since 1945: Believing without Belonging. Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davie, Grace (2004): New Approaches in the Sociology of Religion: A Western Perspective. In: Social Compass 51/1:73-84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davie, Grace (2006): Religion in Europe in the 21st Century: The Factors to take into Account. In: Archive European Sociological 47/2: 271-296.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davie, Grace (2008): From Believing without Belonging to Vicarious Religion: Understanding the Patterns of Religion in Modern Europe. In: Pollack/Olson (eds.): 165-176.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dubach, Alfred/Campiche, Roland (eds.) (1993): Jede(r) ein Sonderfall? Religion in der Schweiz. Zurich. Basel: 93-132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gabriel, Karl (1992): Christentum zwischen Tradition und Postmoderne. Freiburg/Basel/Wien.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finke, Roger (1997): The Consequences of Religious Competition: Supply-Side Explanations for Religious Change, in: Young (ed.): 46-65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Finke, Roger/Stark, Rodney (1988): Religious Economies and Sacred Canopies: Religious Mobilization in American Cities. American Sociological Review 53: 41-49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finke, Roger/Stark, Rodney (2006): The Churching of America 1576-2005: Winners and Losers in our Religious Economy. New Brunswick.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Jonathan (2004): Religion, Civilization, and Civil War. Lanham.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Jonathan (2007): Do Democracies have Separation of Religion and State? In: Canadian Journal of Political Science 40/1: 1-25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Jonathan (2008): A World Survey of Religion and the State. Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fox, Jonathan/Tabory, Ephraim (2008): Contemporary Evidence Regarding the Impact of State Regulation of Religion on Religious Participation and Belief. In: Sociology of Religion 69/3: 245-272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franzmann, Manuel/Gärtner, Christel/Köck, Nicole (eds.) (2006): Religiosität in der säkularisierten Welt. Theoretische und empirische Beiträge zur Säkularisierungsdebatte in der Religionssoziologie. Wiesbaden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Froese, Paul/Pfaff, Steven (2001): Replete and desolate markets: Poland, East Germany and the New Religious Paradigm. In: Social Forces 80: 481-507.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Froese, Paul/Pfaff, Steven (2005): Explaining a Religious Anomaly: A Historical Analysis of Secularization in Eastern Germany. In: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 44/4: 397-422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furseth, Inger/Repstad, Pal (2007): an introduction to the sociology of religion. Classical and Contemporary Perspectives. Aldershot.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hervieu-Léger, Danièle (1990): Religion and Modernity in the French Context: For a New Approach to Secularization, Sociological Analysis 51: 15-25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Iannaccone, Laurence R. (1991): The Consequences of Religious Market Structure: Adam Smith and the Economics of Religion. Rationality and Society 3: 156-177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iannaccone, Laurence (1992): Religious Market and the Economics of Religion. Social Compass 39: 123-131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iannacone, Laurence R./Finke, Roger/Stark, Rodney (1997): Deregulation Religion: The Economics of Church and State. Economic Inquiry 35: 350-353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kallscheuer, Otto (ed.) (1996): Das Europa der Religionen: Ein Kontinent zwischen Säkularisierung und Fundamentalismus. Frankfiut/Main..

    Google Scholar 

  • Krüggeler, Michael (1993): Inseln der Seligen: Religiöse Orientierungen in der Schweiz. In: Du bach/Campiche (eds.): 93-132.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krüggeler, Michael/Voll, Peter (1993): Strukturelle Individualisierung – ein Leitfaden durchs Labyrinth der Empirie. In: Dubach/Campiche (eds.): 17-49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Land, Kenneth C./Deane, Glenn/Blau, Judith R. (1991): Religious pluralism and church membership in American cities, 1906. In: American Sociological Review 56: 237-249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lechner, Frank J. (1997): The „New Paradigm“ in the Sociology of Religion: Comment on Warner. In: American Journal of Sociology 103: 182-192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luckmann, Thomas (1963): Das Problem der Religion in der modernen Gesellschaft: Institution, Person und Weltanschauung. Freiburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luckmann, Thomas (1967): The Invisible Religion: The Problem of Religion in Modern Society. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luckmann, Thomas (1991): Die unsichtbare Religion. Frankfurt/Main.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, David (1978): A General Theory of Secularization. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, David (1996): Europa und Amerika: Säkularisierung oder Vervielfältigung der Christenheit – Zwei Ausnahmen und keine Regel. In: Kallscheuer (ed.) (1996): 161-180.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miiller, Olaf (2008): Religion in Central and Eastern Europe: Was There a Re-Awakening after the Breakdown of Communism? In: Pollack/Olson (eds.): 63-92.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, Pippa/Inglehart, Ronald (2004): Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, Detlef (1998): Religiöser Wandel in Mittel- und Osteuropa. In: Pollack/Borowik/Jagodzinski (eds.): 9-52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, Detlef (2001): Modifications in the Religious Field of Central and Eastern Europe. In: European Societies 3: 135-166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, Detlef/Borowik, Irene/Jagodzinski, Wolfgang (eds.) (1998): Religiöser Wandel in den postkommunistischen Ländern Ost- und Mitteleuropas. Würzburg.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, Detlef/Olson, Daniel VA. (eds.) (2008): The Role of Religion in Modern Societies. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, Detlef/Pickel, Gert (2000): The Vitality of Religion-Church Integration and Politics in Eastern and Western Europe in Comparison. Arbeitsberichte des Frankfurter Institutes für Transformationsstudien 13/00.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, Detlef/Pickel, Gert (2007): Religious Individualization or Secularization? Testing hypotheses of religious change – the case of Eastern and Western Germany. In: Britisch Journal of Sociology 58/4: 603-632.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, Detlef/Pickel, Gert (2008): Religious Individualization or Secularization: An Attempt to Evaluate the Thesis od Religious Individualization in Eastern and Western Germany. In: Pollack/Olson (eds.): 191-220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robbers, Gerhard (ed.) (2001): Staat und Kirche in der Europäischen Union. Baden-Baden.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rokkan, Stein/Lipset, Seymour Martin (1967): Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives. New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sherkat, Darren E./Ellison, Christopher G. (1999): Recent Developments and Current Controversies in the Sociology of Religion. In: Annual Review of Sociology 25: 363-394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stark, Rodney/Iannaccone, Laurence R. (1994): A Supply-Side Reinterpretation of the „Secularization“ of Europe. In: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 33: 230-252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stark, Rodney/Bainbridge, Roger (1987): A Theory of Religion. New Brunswick.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, Rodney/Finke, Roger (2000). Acts of Faith: Explaining the Human Side of Religion. Berkeley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stark, Rodney/Iannaccone, Laurence R. (1994): A Supply-Side Reinterpretation of the „Secularization“ of Europe. In: Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 33: 230-252.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stolz, Jörg (2007): Explaining religiosity: A general sociological model. Lausanne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stolz, Jörg (2008): Secularization theory and rational choice. An integration of micro- and macro-theories of secularization using the example of Switzerland. In: Pollack/Olson (eds.): The Role of Religion in Modern Societies. New York: 249-270.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomka, Miklos/Zulehner, Paul M. (1999): Religion in den Reformländern Ost(Mittel)Europas. Wien.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voas, David/Olson, Daniel V.A./Crockett, Alasdair (2002): Religious Pluralism and Participation: Why Previous Research is Wrong? In: American Sociological Review 67: 212-230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warner, Stephen (1993): Work in Progress toward a New Paradigm for the Sociological Study of Religion in the United States. In: American Journal of Sociology 9/5: 1044-1093.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Young, Lawrence (ed.) (1997): Rational Choice Theory and Religion: Theory and Assessment. London/New York: 46-65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zulehner, Paul M.,/Denz, Hermann (eds.) (1993): Wie Europa lebt und glaubt: Europäische Wertestudie. Düssel-Dorf

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. Detlef Pollack
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gert Pickel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Gert Pickel Olaf Müller

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften | GWV Fachverlage GmbH

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Pollack, D., Pickel, G. (2009). Church-State Relations and the Vitality of Religion in European Comparison. In: Pickel, G., Müller, O. (eds) Church and Religion in Contemporary Europe. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-91989-8_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-91989-8_9

  • Publisher Name: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-531-16748-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-531-91989-8

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Science (German Language)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation