Introducing Religion and Social Theory

The book Religion and Social Theory consists of six conversations the author conducted with some of the most prominent contemporary social theorists and sociologists of religion: Jeffrey Alexander, Bryan Turner, David Held, José Casanova, Steve Bruce, and Grace Davie. The thread that ties these conversations together is their shared focus on theories concerning the place of religion in the contemporary world. Since some of these distinguished thinkers and sociologists have yet to be introduced in Persian-language sources, an effort has been made to ensure the content and language of the conversations are accessible to all those interested in the social sciences, humanities, and religious studies, and that each conversation serves as a readable introduction and a window for a general familiarity with the theorist in question and their views on the transformations of religion in today's world. The fluent, clear, and unpretentious responses of each thinker, along with the fact that some of the questions are directed at Iran, have also added to the appeal and usefulness of the conversations.

Fortunately, under the interviewer's probing, the thinkers in question also presented a compelling summary of their views and some new illuminating points, and were satisfied with the outcome of the conversation. An effort has been made for all the conversations to revolve around similar axes and themes, so that by reading them together, the audience becomes more familiar with the main alignments regarding the subject of the discussions. At the beginning of each conversation, I have briefly introduced the thinker in question, and at the end, I have provided a selection of their works so that interested readers can refer to them for further specialized study. The author conducted all the conversations in an "oral," "in-person" format and in English, and after transcribing the text and obtaining the final approval of the thinkers in question, translated them into Persian. An effort has also been made to preserve the fluency of the conversational language while translating the responses accurately.

The intention was for this collection to include, as far as possible, the most prominent contemporary social theorists and sociologists of religion. Four of the thinkers in question—José Casanova, Bryan Turner, Steve Bruce, and Grace Davie—are considered among the most influential contemporary sociologists of religion, and the other two—Jeffrey Alexander and David Held—are also among the leading contemporary social theorists. I had also conducted conversations on the same subject and in the same manner for publication in this collection with three of my professors from my master's program at the LSE in London—Anthony Giddens, Eric Beck, and Eileen Barker—and with Jürgen Habermas, but unfortunately, their audio files were lost due to the confiscation of three electronic storage devices and my laptop, and I did not find the opportunity or sufficient motivation to repeat them. Randall Collins and Manuel Castells had also accepted my invitation for a conversation, but due to an involuntary interruption in my doctoral studies at the University of Oxford after the events of '88, I was forced to cancel the scheduled in-person meetings. I had planned to contact other prominent sociologists for subsequent conversations, but with the shift in my research and professional priorities over the past few years, it is unlikely I will find the interest or sufficient time to continue these conversations, and I am concluding this collection in its current form and volume.

The connecting link of these conversations is each thinker's stance, whether for or against, the secularization thesis. In this collection, a number of prominent defenders and critics of this thesis have laid out their views clearly and simply. Proponents of the secularization thesis, in its various forms, believe that with the advancement and expansion of modern culture and civilization, religion inevitably declines both at the macro/institutional/objective level and at the micro/subjective level. In contrast, critics of the secularization thesis, who themselves are divided into numerous branches, defend the compatibility of modernity and certain forms of religion from various perspectives, and while they consider the "transformations" of religion in the modern world to be inevitable, they do not believe in its inevitable "decline."

As is clear, sociological theories concerning the place of religion in the contemporary world merely "describe" and "explain" the processes of religious change and fluctuation, and insofar as they are sociological theories, they cannot make value judgments about the "desirability" of what they describe and explain. "Descriptive" and "explanatory" positions must be distinguished from "normative" / "prescriptive" / "value-laden" positions regarding religion, but unfortunately this clear and simple distinction is sometimes not made, and the conflation of "descriptive/explanatory" and "normative/value-judgmental/prescriptive" positions, along with the leap from "oughts" to "ises" in this context, has fueled theoretical confusion in Iran's public sphere and added to the ambiguity and impasses of conversations about the place of religion in the contemporary world. Secularization is a descriptive/explanatory sociological theory, and secularism is a philosophical/political orientation. One can be a "proponent of secularization theory" (i.e., believe that religion is declining in the contemporary world) and at the same time be an "advocate for strengthening religion" (like the mainstream of traditional religiosity and supporters of the Tafkik school in Iran). Likewise, one can be an "opponent of secularization theory" (i.e., believe that religion does not necessarily decline in the contemporary world) and at the same time be a "secularist" (i.e., an advocate for the decline of religion). Just as one can simultaneously be a "secularist" and "believe in secularization" (like Steve Bruce, most atheists, and some non-religious Iranian intellectuals) or simultaneously be an "advocate for strengthening religion" and a "critic of secularization theory" (like most supporters of "political Islam," "cultural/civil Islam," and "religious intellectualism" in Iran).

The author also holds a normative position in this regard (and considers the strengthening of "spirituality and religiosity compatible with ethics and rationality" in human lives—at the micro level—and the civic presence of religion within the framework of "just law" and "extra-religious/pre-religious morality" in the social sphere to be desirable), but in the conversations of this collection, he has endeavored solely to explore and present to readers the sociological, descriptive, and explanatory position of each thinker regarding the place of religion in today's world. Therefore, regardless of whatever value-laden position the audience holds towards various forms of religiosity, they will likely find some of the points raised in this collection worth reading and pondering.

At one end of the spectrum of theorists in this collection is Steve Bruce, a prominent and staunch proponent of secularization theory who considers the decline of religion as a result of the advance of modernity and modernization to be inevitable. At the other end of this spectrum are Grace Davie and José Casanova, who are renowned and influential critics of secularization theory, having questioned the validity and credibility of this theory and offered alternative theories. Jeffrey Alexander, David Held, and Bryan Turner also fall in the middle of this spectrum, leveling gentler critiques at secularization theory and seeing modernity and certain forms of religion as compatible.

The first conversation in this collection, which is with Jeffrey Alexander, deals more with mapping the currents of contemporary social and sociological theory, so as to clarify the theoretical background and general geography of the discussion, serving as an introduction for a more focused entry into the exploration of the place of religion in the modern world in the subsequent conversations of this collection with prominent contemporary sociologists of religion. The final conversation is with David Held, which, like the first conversation and serving as an epilogue, addresses more general topics in mapping the currents of contemporary social and political thought. If the audience of this collection, in exchange for the few hours spent reading it, finds points and pretexts for further thinking and reading, greater precision and insight in theory, and more seriousness and good work in practice, "I shall be grateful to fortune and to fate as well."

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Introducing the book Religion and Social Theory by Mohammad Reza Jalaeipour

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