A THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL XLIV 2002 Published by the Protestant ...

TONY CARROLL SJ
SECULARISATION IN RECENT SOCIAL
THEORY
Tony Carroll SJ, Frankfurt
Introduction
In this article I†intend to do three things. Firstly, I†will survey the
various models of secularisation theory and look at some contemporary
problems that have arisen with the theory. Secondly, I†will consider
various attempts to reformulate the theory of secularisation in
the light of these problems. Finally, I†will outline Habermasís present
understanding of the theory in the light of the events of September
11 th and raise three problematical assumptions which I†suggest are
present in his understanding of secularisation.
What is the theory of secularisation?
The Western theory of secularisation forms an intrinsic part of the
framework of thought surrounding the modern and contemporary
conception of history, rationality, modernity and society. The story
which it recounts is tied to the Western narrative of the emergence of
the modern world. We might summarise this story in the following
way. Due to a constellation of factors such as the rise of new scientific
methods, the political and legal settlements of the seventeenth century
wars of religion, the invention of new forms of political and
economic theory and the religious and cultural changes associated
with the Reformation, Renaissance, and the French Revolution, society
went through a process of modernisation. Such a process of modernisation
involved a transition from the feudalistic society of medieval
Christendom to a modern capitalistic secular society. This
societal modernisation was brought about through the functional differentiation
of the various sectors of society which had before been
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