A Conversation with Thomas Luckmann

Abstract

Saint Benedict, in Chapter 1 of his Rule, indicates that there is a certain kind of monk, the anchorite or hermit, able to live in solitude, not when he sets out on the road of monastic experience, but when dusk falls, as the culmination of a lifelong trial and training by the side of his fellow brothers.The first impression on being welcomed today by Thomas Luckmann at his home is of finding oneself in the presence of an ancient hermit of quite a singular kind-a hermit, or a somewhat peculiar Carthusian, as he himself seems to suggest by commenting with a certain envy that a colleague of his has a fortune vast enough to spend his retirement in a building which in former times had been a small French Charterhouse. Yet singular indeed, because Luckmann does not live a regime of strict enclosure: his car allows him to go down to the village to buy provisions, the telephone rings quite frequently, and he spends part of his time away from home travelling, giving lectures and, above all and whenever he gets the opportunity, doing some angling.Indeed, angling has been not only a passion, but his particular method of learning to live in solitude and silence. In fact, when trying to locate him I asked his lifelong friend Peter Berger if he could give me his address. The latter warned me: "I'm not sure you'll find him in; he may be lecturing on Alfred Schutz in Vladivostok or, just as likely, trout-fishing in New Zealand." During our conversation it turned out that he had been doing just those two things not long before, although Luckmann pointed out that his lecturing was not in Vladivostok but "much closer", in St Petersburg.But he definitely leads, at least in part, the life of a hermit: since the death of his wife Benita, except when enjoying the presence of his companion Renate he has spent long periods alone, in a wooden house-old, though renovated-up in the hills, lost in a forest.2007 was the year of Thomas Luckmann's eightieth birthday. It also marked 40 years since the publication of The Invisible Religion, one of the summits of 20th century sociology, although not everyone acknowledges it as such.This twofold coincidence, combined with the fact that since publishing that book, Luckmann has basically dedicated himself to other questions and only from time to time returned to its subject, made me consider the possibility of proposing to him an exercise which is very typical of the social science tradition in Anglo-Saxon countries: what we might call "The Invisible Religion Revisited"-namely, how he himself evaluates his work today, what validity it might have at the present time, and which aspects he would consider in need

Rebuilding a Classic:The Social Construction of Realityat 50

“…Hunter and Ainlay, 1986; Pfadenhauer, 2013; Turner, 2001; Wuthnow et al, 1984). Panoramic views written in English on Luckmann’s work are more scarce, but see Estruch (2008) and Luckmann (2013).…”