Abstract

FERIA ARROYO, Demetrio Arturo. The debate of religious organizations in the prospects secularization. Andamios [online]. 2015, vol.12, n.29, pp.207-227. ISSN 2594-1917.

This paper analyzes religious organizations in the context of the situation in which religion is situated in modern societies. The paper critically discusses the main perspectives on secularization in two dimensions: how they explain the condition of religion in society and, consequently, how these perspectives understand organizations. For the most influential perspectives about secularization, religious organizations lose social relevance as they entail a debacle, individualization and worldliness of religion. Drawing from Niklas Luhmann’s theory, this paper considers religious organizations as a dimension of religion with social and analytic relevance. Finally, following Luhmann’s theory, the paper proposes an analytic framework to study religious organizations.

Keywords : Secularization; religious organizations; religious change; Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory.

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