RELIGIJA U SVJETLU TEORIJA O SEKULARIZACIJI / RELIGION IN THE LIGHT OF THE SECULARIZATION THEORIES

Abstract

Theoretical insights in the field of sociology, as well as in any other humanities, often reflect ideologized aspects of human knowledge. Sociological reflections about religion are no exception. In this paper, taking that into account, I will try to point out on some of the methodological and theoretical problems of providing an unambiguous definition of religion with special reference to secularization theories. Absence of consensus in normative definition of religion is a consequence of varieties of theoretical conceptualizations about secularization and vice versa. It is shown that understanding religion and its role in the context of modernity is contingent upon our understanding of secularization. Inter alia, in this text I lay out three main perspectives of studying religion in the field of sociology of religion.