Definition
Secularization is an ancient concept that had different meanings in history. Originally it comes from the “saeculum,” that is of the time of our terrestrial things. Then it was used to describe the passage from a religious order to the parochial priesthood and administration. Currently it refers to those elements that were part of the religious realm and are now independent form its influence. For example, cemeteries were secularized in many countries and are now under civil regulation.
Introduction
“Secularization Theory” has been at the same time the most influential and the most controversial theory in the sociology of religion. In general terms, secularization describes a process of social differentiation, worldliness, privatization of religion, and reconfiguration of beliefs, with different emphases according to authors (Blancarte 2012). This means that a secularized society separates the world in spheres and religion, becoming one of them, no longer rules over other...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Blancarte R (2012) Religión y sociología, cuatro décadas alrededor del concepto de secularización. Estudios Sociológicos XXX, Número extraordinario: 159–181
Blancarte R (2016) Secularism and secularization. In: Garrard-Burnett V, Freston P, Dove S (eds) The Cambridge history of religions in Latin America. Cambridge University Press, New York
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir (2003) Encuesta de opinión católica México, Colombia, Bolivia. México
Católicas por el Derecho a Decidir, Informe de la Encuesta nacional de opinión católica 2014 (2015) Investigación en salud y demografía, México
Da Costa N (2003) Religión y sociedad en el Uruguay del siglo XXI; Un estudio de la religiosidad en Montevideo. Claeh Centro UNESCO, Montevideo
Espinosa Rugarcía A (2016) Encuesta nacional sobre la muerte digna en México. DMD, México
Hernández A, Rivera C (eds) (2009) Regiones y religiones en México; Estudios de transformación sociorreligiosa. El Colegio de la Frontera Norte, CIESAS, El Colegio de Michoacán, México
Hervieu-Léger D (1987) Vers un nouveau christianisme; Introduction à la sociologie du christianisme occidental. Cerf, Paris
Le Bras G (1955) Études de sociologie religieuse. Presses Universitaire de France, Paris
Mallimaci F (2013) Atlas de las creencias religiosas en la Argentina. Editorial Biblos, Buenos Aires
Oro AP, Martin E, Guigou N, Semán P, Mariano R (2006) Religiao e política no Cone Sul; Argentina, Brasil e Uruguai. CNPq/Pronex Attar Editorial, Sao Paulo
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Blancarte, R. (2019). Secularization in Latin America. In: Gooren, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_591-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_591-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities
Publish with us
Chapter history
-
Latest
Secularization in Latin America- Published:
- 23 November 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_591-2
-
Original
Secularization in Latin America- Published:
- 29 August 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_591-1