Explaining the rise of ‘nonreligion studies’: Subfield formation and institutionalization within the sociology of religion

Bullivant, Stephen

doi:10.1177/0037768619894815

Cited by 77 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…This is a further reminder that we are dealing with a level of diversity in everyday life far greater than that which can be described by simple binaries. Similarly, Bullivant (2020) presents an analysis of the rise and institutionalisation of the sociology of non-religion which only serves to support our contention that the term is too vague and requires a definition of religion which is altogether too tied to Western Christianity. Its pursuit will not result in a productive clarification or worthy generalisations.…”

Section: Some Promising Processesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Worldview complexity: The challenge of intersecting diversities for conceptualising diversity

2022

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Social science analysis of diversity, and religious diversity in particular, has long struggled to move beyond simple binaries of religious-secular, religious-spiritual, traditional-modern, global north-global south, and so on. Twenty-first century realities test existing terms and find them wanting. While concepts such as the postsecular, multiple modernities, multiple secularities, and non-religion point to new lines of analysis, each still refers to binary and thereby limiting terms. This article reviews research on religious diversity, delineating some of the major challenges posed. Building on useful frameworks of superdiversity, multiple pluralities, and religious complexity, we argue that the more widely encompassing concept of worldview complexity might represent a better way forward. It has the advantage of acknowledging the intersecting diversity of diversities in multiple, differing contexts, and abiding similarities in what is occurring ‘beneath religion’.

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Section: Some Promising Processesmentioning

confidence: 98%

Worldview complexity: The challenge of intersecting diversities for conceptualising diversity

2022

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“…It will be costly and time consuming, but several scholars are heading in this direction, as testified ll OPEN ACCESS by the widespread critique of the predominant survey model, 59,67,78,79,80,83,84 by the arrival of dedicated surveys, 69,85,86 by the development of new measurement methods, 47,87 or by the progressive institutionalization of nonreligion studies. 88 This will significantly improve researchers' capacity to analyze the multifaceted reality of non-affiliation today, but it will leave their ability to explore past historical trends-which is a crucial aspect in the debate about secularization-largely unaffected.…”

Section: Studying Non-religion With Small Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

How can big data shape the field of non-religion studies? And why does it matter?

2021

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The shift of attention from the decline of organized religion to the rise of post-Christian spiritualities, anti-religious positions, secularity, and religious indifference has coincided with the deconstruction of the binary distinction between ''religion'' and ''non-religion''-initiated by spirituality studies throughout the 1980s and recently resumed by the emerging field of non-religion studies. The current state of cross-national surveys makes it difficult to address the new theoretical concerns due to (1) lack of theoretically relevant variables, (2) lack of longitudinal data to track historical changes in non-religious positions, and (3) difficulties in accessing small and/or hardly reachable sub-populations of religious nones. We explore how user profiling, text analytics, automatic image classification, and various research designs based on the integration of survey methods and big data can address these issues as well as shape non-religion studies, promote its institutionalization, stimulate interdisciplinary cooperation, and improve the understanding of non-religion by redefining current methodological practices. ll

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“…The growing number of people in the United States (US) who do not identify with any religion has led to an increased interest in studying these populations (Bullivant 2020). People belonging to this group are often broadly called religious nones (Wilkins-Laflamme 2015), irreligious (Campbell 1972;Saroglou 2014), religiously unaffiliated (Hackett et al 2015), and nonreligious (Lee 2015), among other labels.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing the Study of Nonreligion through Feminist Methods

Reuter

Murray

2022

Secularism and Nonreligion

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In the United States, nonreligious people face stigma, prejudice, and discrimination because they are viewed as immoral and distrustful. This is partly because of othering, by which nonreligious people are subjugated to a minority status. Othering also occurs in academic research and writing. Applying feminist principles can improve research about nonreligious populations. Grounded in results of a US-based online study, we recommend two feminist principles to facilitate the study of nonreligion: (1) rejecting othering of minority groups, and (2) intersectionality. As a result of applying these principles, the nuanced differences between nonreligious groups can be better understood and the complex identities of nonreligious people can be more accurately represented. Researchers benefit from increased accuracy and understanding of nonreligion via better informed theoretical and methodological decisions and nonreligious people benefit from their more accurate representation in academic research.

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Explaining the rise of ‘nonreligion studies’: Subfield formation and institutionalization within the sociology of religion

Cited by 77 publications

References 42 publications

Worldview complexity: The challenge of intersecting diversities for conceptualising diversity

Worldview complexity: The challenge of intersecting diversities for conceptualising diversity

How can big data shape the field of non-religion studies? And why does it matter?

Advancing the Study of Nonreligion through Feminist Methods

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