Future Directions in the Sociology of Non-Institutional Religion

Abstract

A shift is taking place in the religious field from collective, institutional, and tradition-hound religion to increasingly individual, non-institutional, and post-traditional religious forms. This article examines how the sociology of religion has responded to this empirical development, paying special attention to tino issues to which Meerten Ter Borg has contributed, namely the typologization of the various modes of non-institutional religion and the foundation of non-institutional religion in human nature. I suggest that the sociology of noninstitutional religion can advance, particularly if it adopts a substantial definition of religion, opens up for co-operation with cognitive scholars, and turns its attention to religious bricolage, the modes of belief, and the effect of the internet on non-institutional religion.

Popular and lived religions

“…Around the 1880s the term 'mysticism' was more used (in a print form at least) and peaked in the 1930s, and remained the most used term among these three until the 1980s with the development of globalization and late modernity. This has led to a growth of subjectivized forms of religion in the non-institutional field (Davidsen, 2012). Further, the use of the word 'spirituality' peaked quite highly in the 1990s.…”

“…As new generations of believers have been taught to question religious authorities, more and more people attempt to establish their own beliefs rather than affiliate themselves with an established dogma. This has led to a growth of subjectivized forms of religion in the non-institutional field (Davidsen, 2012). If this post-dogmatic and non-institutional trend was reflected in the past among the elite through mysticism and among the working and dominated classes through popular religion, this late modern world has eradicated these class differences with regard to this approach to institutionalized religion.…”

Religion, “Non-Religion” and Indigenous Peoples on the 2011 Australian National Census

“…As new generations of believers have been taught to question religious authorities, more and more people attempt to establish their own beliefs rather than affiliate themselves with an established dogma. This has led to a growth of subjectivized forms of religion in the non-institutional field (Davidsen, 2012).…”

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

“…Recent developments in the sociology of religion, despite deeply grounded fascinations with quantitative methods, 14 have pushed multiple scholars into more qualitative directions. [15][16][17] The result is that only 0.06% of 139,368 papers about religion in Web of Science databases for the years 2012-2020 explicitly engage with or make use of big data. The situation is slightly better when Scopus is considered-0.31% of 138,785 papers-but either way the percentage of studies referencing big data remain considerably limited.…”