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

Abstract

Abstract. For a long time, the mainstream of social and cultural geography seems to have implicitly accepted that religion is becoming obsolete and is of little social significance. However, since the 1990s, religion has aroused new interest in the social sciences in general, and to some extent also in social and cultural geography. Against this backdrop, a controversial discussion has started in geography on the relevance of theories of secularisation and the notion of post-secularity, as well as on possible contributions to these debates. The paper introduces the interdisciplinary debate on revisions of theories of secularisation and the promotion of post-secular perspectives, referring, among others, to Jürgen Habermas, Peter Berger, José Casanova, and Talal Asad. In a second step, we argue that an understanding of post-secularity that focuses on the contingency and context-dependent delimitation of the secular and the religious promises to be fruitful for social and cultural geography and can help us to understand the geographies of religion and secularity.

The spaces and places of Czech believers

“…The latter three authors describe various forms of religious revival (re-sacralisation), such as the representations of variable non-church spirituality, or the new roles of churches in society. A relatively similar point of view is seen in the concept of post-secularism, originally introduced by Habermas (2006) and later developed also through the religious landscape concept, for example by Knippenberg (2005), Henkel (2014), Havlíček (2014) or Havlíček and Klingorová (2017), and also in Great Britain where it is related to ethical issues and social problems in the cities (Glasze and Schmitt, 2018). Religious landscape studies focused more concretely on churches in the United States are presented by Zelinsky (2001), studies of house churches in Singapore by Kong (2002), and for religious landscapes in Peru, see Olson in Hopkins et al (2013).…”

“…Religious landscape studies focused more concretely on churches in the United States are presented by Zelinsky (2001), studies of house churches in Singapore by Kong (2002), and for religious landscapes in Peru, see Olson in Hopkins et al (2013). Different treatments of both agreement and criticism of post-secularism and post-secularity terms are reflected recently in the work by Glasze and Schmitt (2018).…”

Postsekularyzm w badaniach geograficznych

“…Większość badań geograficznych, szczególnie tych w nurcie geografii religii (Kong 1990(Kong , 2001, od początku lat 90. XX w. nie nawiązywała bezpośrednio do myśli postsekularnej, lecz poprzez liczne konteksty społeczne i przestrzenne wskazywała na obecność oraz wzajemne relacje pomiędzy sacrum i profanum w przestrzeni (Glasze, Schmitt 2018). Dlatego zdaniem Kong (2010) wśród nowych problemów badawczych powinny znaleźć się również te związane z postsekularyzmem.…”

“…Konieczna jest zatem głębsza dyskusja na temat charakteru świeckości i połączenia perspektywy postsekularnej z podejściami z geografii społecznej i geografii kultury. Obejmuje to badanie roli praktyk uważanych za religijne lub świeckie w symbolicznej i materialnej przestrzeni (publicznej) lub analizę konkretnych "ścieżek regionalnych" w przypadku prób delimitacji występowania świeckości i religii w przestrzeni (Glasze, Schmitt 2018).…”

Pilgrimage mobilities: a de Certeauian perspective

“…A major implication of the post-secular is that the fundamental assumptions of secular modernity, concerning the separation of the secular and the sacred, are being questioned and revised. As noted by Glasze and Schmitt (2018), conceptions of post-secularity need to be attuned to the contingent and contextual demarcations of matters secular and religious, the better to provide nuanced studies of the geographies of religion.…”