
Contents
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The secular in European history The secular in European history
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The ‘non-religious turn’ The ‘non-religious turn’
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Measuring non-religion Measuring non-religion
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Three case studies Three case studies
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UK: Sunday Assembly UK: Sunday Assembly
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Norway: Human-Etisk Forbund Norway: Human-Etisk Forbund
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Poland: Fundacja im. Kazimierz Łyszczyński Poland: Fundacja im. Kazimierz Łyszczyński
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Conclusion Conclusion
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Works cited Works cited
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31 Non-religion and Europe
Get accessJosh Bullock is a Lecturer in Sociology and Criminology at Kingston University, London. His recent publications include: (co-authored with David Herbert), ‘Reaching for a New Sense of Connection: Soft Atheism and “Patch and Make Do” Spirituality amongst Nonreligious European Millennials’, Culture and Religion. An Interdisciplinary Journal (2020) and ‘The Diversity of Nonreligion: Meaning-making, Activism and Towards a Theory of Nonreligious Identity and Group Formation’, in Vegard Ree Ytterbøe and Erlend Hovdkinn (eds.), Formatting Nonreligion in Late Modern Societies (Springer, forthcoming 2021).
Stephen Bullivant is Professor of Theology and the Sociology of Religion at St. Mary’s University, London. His recent publications include: (as author) Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II (Oxford University Press, 2019); and (as co-editor with Michael Ruse) The Cambridge History of Atheism (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
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Published:08 December 2021
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Abstract
This chapter is concerned with the growing phenomenon of non-religion and its place in modern Europe. The secular is hardly a new idea in European history but its nature and forms evolve. The focus here is on the growing significance of non-religion in the twenty-first century, especially among younger people. This phenomenon is approached in different ways: conceptually, statistically, and ethnographically. The conceptual approach emphasizes the shift away from simply the absence of religion to the presence of a positively chosen alternative. The statistical section underlines the considerable variations in the presence of non-religion both within and across the different parts of Europe and the reasons for this. Finally, three ethnographic vignettes illustrate the diverse ways in which substantive and engaged expressions of non-religion ‘make sense’ within their particular socio-religious contexts.
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