'Religion' and 'Secular' Categories in Sociology: Decolonizing the Modern Myth

by Mitsutoshi Horii

Overview

Informed by ‘critical religion’ perspective in Religious Studies and postcolonial self-reflection in Sociology, this book interrogates the ideas of ‘religion’ and ‘the secular’ in social theory and Sociology. It argues that as long as social theory and sociological discourse embed the religion-secular distinction and locate themselves on the ‘secular’ side of the binary, Sociology will continue to serve the very ideologies it tries to subvert – namely Western modernity/coloniality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030875183
Publisher:	Springer International Publishing
Publication date:	11/23/2021
Edition description:	1st ed. 2021
Pages:	263
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Mitsutoshi Horii is Professor of Sociology at Shumei University, Japan, and Principal of Chaucer College, UK.

Table of Contents

Introduction.- Theoretical Background.- ‘Religion’ in Social Theory.- ‘The Secular’ in Sociology.- Social Construction of Secularisation Thesis.- Textbooks and Other Introductory Materials.- ‘Religion’ in Liquid Late Modernity of Risk Society.- Conclusion: Social Theory and Sociology after Deconstructing the Religious-Secular Binary.