Abstract

ExcerptIntroduction One of the most profound changes to have engulfed the interdisciplinary study of religion, society, culture, and history has been what is now commonly termed the “post-secular” turn. This intellectual development, which has been gaining a growing momentum during the last two decades, offers a “revisionist” reconsideration of the “orthodox” paradigm of secularization. This revisionism involves practically all of the paradigm components, questioning not only the descriptive-analytical merit of the secularization thesis but also its political and philosophical implications. Critics have pointed to, among other things, the thesis's misevaluation of the role of religion—as an…