Multi-scaled secularization or postsecular present? Christianity and migrant workers in Shenzhen, China

Abstract

This article provides a multi-scaled, grounded understanding of how secularization and re-sacralization occur simultaneously in a context of rapid modernization. Recent geographical scholarship in the geography of religion have exhibited deficient reflection over the geo-historical contingencies and complexities of secularization and secularity. This article seeks to re-conceptualize secularization as a multi-scaled, grounded and self-reflective process through an empirical study of the hybrid, contradictory processes of secularization and postsecular religious revival in a ‘gospel village’ in Shenzhen, China. In this rapidly urbanizing village, Christian belief inherited from Western missionary work has gradually lost its hold amidst modernization and urbanization. However, the inflow of rural migrant workers has re-invigorated the church. Christianity has created possibilities for postsecular ethics and resistances, enabling migrant workers to materially, symbolically and emotionally settle in a new socio-economic environment. Also, new situated religiosities arise as theological interpretations are used to negotiate and even legitimize social inequalities and alienation. This article therefore argues that the postsecular turn in human geography needs to consider how the postsecular articulates, and co-evolves with, secular conditions of being in the world. It highlights the hybrid and contested nature of the secularization process, which gives rise not only to disengaged belief and immanent consciousness but also to new aspirations for, and formations of, religiosities.

Mapping the geography of choirs in Sweden

“…The rural, on the other hand, is constructed as a realm of traditional religions (Beaumont and Eder 2019: 16). However, this distinc tion between urban and rural postsecular ities has not received exhaustive treatment (Jones and Heley 2016;Gao et al 2018); Beaumont and Klaus Eder (2019: 17) denote postsecular societies as 'a society where secular and nonsecular prin ciples -beyond others -circulate simultane ously through social relations' . Moreover, as regards choirs, there have only been a few engagements with the postsecular, such as Jonathan Arnold's account of sacred music in secular society and Céline Grünhagen's focus on hymns in hospital environments (Arnold 2019;Grünhagen 2012).…”

Using intersectionality to explore social inequalities amongst Christian family migrants in China

“…To engage the intercategorical complexity, this paper focuses on how religion may mediate and reconfigure classbased and gendered arrangements of power among family migrants. Existing research on geography of religion has noted that religion plays a crucial role in addressing social inequalities among migrant community (Ley 2008;Gao and Qian 2018;Kong and Woods 2019). In particular, faith-based organisations and religious institutions -such as Christian churches -increasingly provide social welfare services no longer offered by the state by providing migrants with bonding social capital, caring and solidarity (Ley 2008;Cloke 2013).…”

“…In particular, faith‐based organisations and religious institutions −such as Christian churches – increasingly provide social welfare services no longer offered by the state by providing migrants with bonding social capital, caring and solidarity (Cloke & Beaumont, 2013; Ley, 2008). Religion therefore offers migrants not only social and material support but also therapeutic and emotional empowerment enabling them to reframe the experiences of various social oppressions (Cloke & Beaumont, 2013; Gao et al, 2018). As Gao et al (2018) suggest, although religious ethics cannot substantially challenge the ontological conditions of social inequality, it constitutes an “structure of feeling” that conditions the ways various forms of power operate and are actualised.…”

Understanding the geographies of religion and secularity: on the potentials of a broader exchange between geography and the (post-) secularity debate

“…In a similar way, O'Mahony (2018), in his analysis of Marian statues in Dublin, connects local practices of place-making with religion, secularity, identities, and geopolitical events on different scales. Gao et al (2018) analyse the "hybrid and contradictory" processes of secularisation and religious revival in so-called gospel villages with many rural migrant workers in the Shenzhen area. They use a post-secular perspective to analyse the overlapping and parallel geographies of processes of secularisation and resacralisation.…”