The Case Against Secularization: A Rebuttal

This article examines the main charges against secularization theory and finds them wanting. Contrary to the recent arguments of various critics, there is a reasonably solid body of secularization theory with valid historical content; secularization cannot be explained away as either institutionalization or transformation; it is neither a selflimiting process nor reversed by fundamentalist movements; and while secularization theory may be of limited use in current macrosociological research on global change, it is as yet far from irrelevant. Until it is more solidly refuted, secularization theory remains a valuable part of the theoretical arsenal of the sociology of religion.