Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Congregations in Europe pp 33–49Cite as

Second Modernity’s Effects on the Religious Field: Implications for a Mapping Project

  • Chapter
  • First Online:

  • 184 Accesses

Abstract

A precondition for studying change/continuity in any religious mapping project is the validity of the investigations. Are we actually studying what we are supposed to be studying? Do we really map religions and adherents to religions?

To secure the validity of ones studies one has to be aware of both the societal conditions at hand at the time for the mapping as well as the changes these conditions have gone through (and presumable go through). These requirements are essential since the social conditions and the change of these have a direct impact on the religious field.

Ulrich Beck and his thoughts about the transition from first modernity to second modernity will in this article be used as the point of departure. Beck highlights five developments challenging the cornerstones of first modernity: Globalization, intensification of individualization, transformation of gender roles, the flexible employment and the global ecological crises.

Primarily in my discussion of Beck’s five points I will use the results from the two waves of mapping taken place in Aarhus 2002 and 2012 (Aarhus is the second largest city in Denmark with about 325,000 inhabitants).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    New religious movements established in the 1990s and later.

  2. 2.

    This number is probably too high, since we only have figures for the total number of people attending meditation for both Transcendental Meditation and the Scandinavian Yoga and Meditation School.

References

  • Ahlin, Lars. 2007. Krop, sind – eller ånd? Alternative behandlere og spiritualitet i Danmark. Højbjerg: Forlaget Univers.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015. The growth of alternative therapy: A valid argument against the secularisation thesis? Journal of Contemporary Religion 30 (3): 399–413.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahlin, Lars et al. 2012. Religious diversity and pluralism. Journal of Contemporary Religion 27(3): 403–418.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, Ulrich, and Christoph Lau. 2005. Second modernity as a research agenda: theoretical and empirical explorations in the ‘meta-change’ of modern society. The British Journal of Sociology 56 (4): 525–557.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beck, Ulrich, and Johannes Willms. 2004. Conversations with Ulrich Beck. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beck, Ulrich, Wolfgang Bonss, and Christoph Lau. 2003. The theory of reflexive modernization. Theory, Culture & Society 20 (1): 1–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bjerrum, Henriette, and Maja Pilgaard. 2014. Yoga i København. Copenhagen: Videncenter for Folkeoplysning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Borup, Jørn. 2005. Dansk Dharma. Højbjerg: Forlaget Univers.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2016. Who are these Buddhists and how many of them are there? Theoretical and methodological challenges in counting immigrant Buddhists: A Danish case study. Journal of Contemporary Religion 31 (1): 85–100.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borup, Jørn et al. 2015. Mindfulness i Aarhus. En kortlægning. Center for SamtidsReligion. http://samtidsreligion.au.dk/oevrige-projekter/mindfulness-i-aarhus/ Accessed 12 Jul 2016.

  • Brown, Callum. 2001. The death of Christian Britain: Understanding secularisation 1800–2000. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buur Nørlev, Lars. 2014. Den autentiske troende og fællesskabet [The authentic believer and the community]. Seminar report MA in the Comparative Study of Religions: Department of the Study of Religion at Aarhus University.

  • Campbell, Colin. 2007. The easternization of the west. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danmarks statistik. 2010. Statistiske efterretninger: Uddannelse og Kultur.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davie, Grace. 2014. Religion in Britain. A persistent paradox. London: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ekholm, Ola, Anne Illemann Christensen, Michael Davidsen, and Knud Juel. 2015. Alternativ behandling. Resultater fra Sundheds- og sygelighedsundersøgelsen 2013. Statens Institut for Folkesundhed. Syddansk Universitet.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heelas, Paul, and Linda Woodhead. 2005. The spiritual revolution: Why religion is giving way to spirituality. Malden: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Houtman, Dick, and Stef Aupers. 2007. The spiritual turn and the decline of tradition: The spread of post-Christian spirituality in 14 Western countries, 1981–2000. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46 (3): 305–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeldtoft, Nadia. 2012. Everyday lived Islam. PhD thesis at Faculty of Theology, Copenhagen University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, Tina Gudrun, and Kate Østergaard. 2007. Nye muslimer i Danmark, møder og omvendelser. Aarhus: Forlaget Univers.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLoad, Hugh. 2005. The religious crisis of the 1960s. Journal of Modern European History 3 (2): 205–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Netpatient. http://www.netpatient.dk/depression.htm. Accessed 12 Jan 2016.

  • Politiken. http://politiken.dk/forbrugogliv/sundhedogmotion/ECE2275495/kvinder-foeler-sig-haardest-ramt-af-stress/. Accessed 12 Jan 2016.

  • Stoltz, Jörg, et al. 2016. (Un) believing in modern society. Farnham: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, Charles. 1991. The ethics of authenticity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Voas, David. 2009. The rise and fall of fuzzy fidelity in Europe. European Sociological Review 25 (2): 155–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wikipedia. Search word: Vækstcenteret [Growth center] Accessed 23 Dec 2015.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department for the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

    Lars Ahlin

Authors
  1. Lars Ahlin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lars Ahlin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Theology, University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg Cedex, France

    Christophe Monnot

  2. Institute for Social Sciences of Religions (ISSR), and Observatoire des Religions en Suisse (ORS), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Jörg Stolz

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ahlin, L. (2018). Second Modernity’s Effects on the Religious Field: Implications for a Mapping Project. In: Monnot, C., Stolz, J. (eds) Congregations in Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77261-5_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77261-5_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-77260-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-77261-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation