Notes: Secularisation | Sociology Mains Optional for UPSC 2026 PDF Download

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Secularization  
It means influence of religion in all areas of social life is steadily diminishing  
Bryan Wilson defines secularization as the process whereby religious thinking, process and institutions lose social 
significance. 
Theological Society ? secularization ? Secular society 
 
In the 19th Century it was widely believed that industrialisation and the growth of scientific knowledge would lead to 
secularization  
 
Early sociologists auguste comte, Durkheim, Karl Marx, Weber all believed that the process of secularization was found to 
occur as societies modernized and became more reliant on science and technology to control and explain the social world  
 
Contemporarily there is debate over the secularization thesis. 
 
Secularization is a complex sociological concept because there is little consensus on what secularization is and how to 
measure it - 
Secularization can be evaluated according to number of aspects and dimensions  
 
1) Institutional religion - participation has decreased according to some. 
 
2) Disengagement of the Church from the wider Society - David Martin sees this view as concerned with decline in 
power, wealth, influence and Prestige of the church 
 
3) Differentiation - that is church no longer performs or it has been delinked from other social Institutions.  
Specialised institutions have come up in the political and economic arenas and the religious institutions in contemporary 
society confines themselves to purely religious matters. 
 
4) Religious pluralism - the continuing proliferation of sects and denominations has been interpreted by some researchers 
as the decline of religion  
 
5) Secularization of Religious Institutions - that is region itself has undergone a process of secularization. Religious 
Institutions engaged in tasks which may not be strictly speaking religious. Example running hospitals, educational 
institutions, et cetera 
 
6) Generalisation- Parsons argues that as religious Institutions become more specialised religious values become 
increasingly generalized. Religious beliefs no longer specifically direct particular actions. However they are incorporated 
into the society’s value system they provide general guidelines for conduct. 
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Secularization  
It means influence of religion in all areas of social life is steadily diminishing  
Bryan Wilson defines secularization as the process whereby religious thinking, process and institutions lose social 
significance. 
Theological Society ? secularization ? Secular society 
 
In the 19th Century it was widely believed that industrialisation and the growth of scientific knowledge would lead to 
secularization  
 
Early sociologists auguste comte, Durkheim, Karl Marx, Weber all believed that the process of secularization was found to 
occur as societies modernized and became more reliant on science and technology to control and explain the social world  
 
Contemporarily there is debate over the secularization thesis. 
 
Secularization is a complex sociological concept because there is little consensus on what secularization is and how to 
measure it - 
Secularization can be evaluated according to number of aspects and dimensions  
 
1) Institutional religion - participation has decreased according to some. 
 
2) Disengagement of the Church from the wider Society - David Martin sees this view as concerned with decline in 
power, wealth, influence and Prestige of the church 
 
3) Differentiation - that is church no longer performs or it has been delinked from other social Institutions.  
Specialised institutions have come up in the political and economic arenas and the religious institutions in contemporary 
society confines themselves to purely religious matters. 
 
4) Religious pluralism - the continuing proliferation of sects and denominations has been interpreted by some researchers 
as the decline of religion  
 
5) Secularization of Religious Institutions - that is region itself has undergone a process of secularization. Religious 
Institutions engaged in tasks which may not be strictly speaking religious. Example running hospitals, educational 
institutions, et cetera 
 
6) Generalisation- Parsons argues that as religious Institutions become more specialised religious values become 
increasingly generalized. Religious beliefs no longer specifically direct particular actions. However they are incorporated 
into the society’s value system they provide general guidelines for conduct. 
 
7) Individuation - Robert N Bellah - that is religion is increasingly an individual quest for meaning rather than a 
collective actor worship. 
 
8) Transformation - rather than seeing religious beliefs as generalized or “individuated” a number of sociologists argue that 
these beliefs have now become transformed into secular guides to action into Western society.  
Example Weber sees the logic of the spirit of capitalism in ascetic Protestantism 
 
9) Desacralization - this means that supernatural forces are no longer seen as controlling the world. Action is no longer 
directed by religious belief. Man's consciousness has become secularized.  
Max Weber claims that Industrial society is characterized by rationalisation and intellectualization  
Thus, the term secularization has been used in many different ways. 
 
David Martin states that the concept of secularization includes “a large number of discrete separate elements loosely 
put together in an intellectual hold all” 
 
Bryan Wilson although is convinced that secularization and its various forms is occurring in western societies, admits that 
there is “no adequate way of testing the strength of religious commitment”. 
 
Thus, the problem of research methodology has dogged the secularization debate. 
 
Despite the widespread support for the theory of secularization a number of doubts have been raised and the opponents of 
the concept argue that religion remains a significant force though in new and unfamiliar forms.