Project Details
Projekt
FOR 621: Transformation of Religion in the Modern Age. Religion and Society in the Second Half of the Century
Subject Area
Humanities
Term
from 2005 to 2015
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 13738635
The relationship between the European societies and the phenomenon of religion is at present mighty ambivalent. On the one hand, it has become common knowledge in the public mind to determine the loss of significance of religion in the Modern Age since the 18th century. On the other hand, a quite different perception has evolved in the past centuries; this perception presumes that the aforementioned prediction only covers one side of the phenomenon in question and that religion in its many different forms is characterised by an astonishing vitality which is noticed with both curiosity and concern.
Our main research interest is the socio-historical background of the change in the public perception of religion. We analyse how the Christian main churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches, as the established organisational formations of religion have changed and how religiousness as an expression of individual and collective behaviour in society has changed in the second half of the 20th century.
The Research Unit assumes that the fundamental change of religiousness is closely connected with the change in the formation of identity of the individual human being in the developed societies of the 20th century in general. Taking the present revolutions in the fields of education and communication and the increased quantity of having time at one s own disposal, thus creating new models of profession and consumption, in mind we try to establish the major causes for the transformation of religion and church-related religiousness respectively in the following three sections of our Research Unit:
-- Religious Socialisation
-- Social Formation of Religion
-- Representation of Religion in the Media and Religious Semantics
The post-war period and the dynamic times of the 1960´s and 1970´s, which hit all religious groups significantly even more, but most of all the traditional forms of religious life, are at the centre of attention in the several studies. This temporal focus is simply justified by the restricted availability of relevant sources from the archives.
Nevertheless, because of new formations of religion, which have appeared quite recently, it seems to be reasonable to define the chronological order of each project individually so that findings very close to the present-day situation are not only possible, but in the interest of this Research Unit.
Our main research interest is the socio-historical background of the change in the public perception of religion. We analyse how the Christian main churches, the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches, as the established organisational formations of religion have changed and how religiousness as an expression of individual and collective behaviour in society has changed in the second half of the 20th century.
The Research Unit assumes that the fundamental change of religiousness is closely connected with the change in the formation of identity of the individual human being in the developed societies of the 20th century in general. Taking the present revolutions in the fields of education and communication and the increased quantity of having time at one s own disposal, thus creating new models of profession and consumption, in mind we try to establish the major causes for the transformation of religion and church-related religiousness respectively in the following three sections of our Research Unit:
-- Religious Socialisation
-- Social Formation of Religion
-- Representation of Religion in the Media and Religious Semantics
The post-war period and the dynamic times of the 1960´s and 1970´s, which hit all religious groups significantly even more, but most of all the traditional forms of religious life, are at the centre of attention in the several studies. This temporal focus is simply justified by the restricted availability of relevant sources from the archives.
Nevertheless, because of new formations of religion, which have appeared quite recently, it seems to be reasonable to define the chronological order of each project individually so that findings very close to the present-day situation are not only possible, but in the interest of this Research Unit.
DFG Programme
Research Units
Projects
- Der Zusammenhang zwischen Migration und Religion. Eine Untersuchung ausgewählter Migrantengruppen in historisch-komparativer Perspektive (Applicant Krech, Volkhard )
- Evangelische Pfarrer und religiöse Sozialisation. Insitutionalisierte Religion und Säkularisierung in der Bundesrepublik aus sozialgeschichtlicher Perspektive (1945 bis Mitte der 1970er Jahre) (Applicant Tenfelde, Klaus )
- Kirche als Text. Zur Semantik kirchlicher Selbstdarstellungen in der BRD 1945-1990. (Applicant Hölscher, Lucian )
- Konfessionsverschiedene Ehen als Instanzen der religiösen Sozialisation. Zur Tradierung des Religiösen in (bi)konfessionellen Kontexten (Applicant Tenfelde, Klaus )
- Mediale Repräsentation von Kirche und Religion nach 1945. (Applicant Bösch, Frank )
- Pluralisierung des Religiösen. Zur Transformation religiöser Deutungsmuster aus Sicht der Anbieterseite (Applicant Krech, Volkhard )
- Religiöse Sozialisation in Arbeiterfamilien in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland und Großbritannien nach 1945. Ruhrgebiet und Südwales im Vergleich. (Applicant Tenfelde, Klaus )
- Strukturelle Wandlungsprozesse der großen Konfessionen zwischen 1949 und 1989. Religiöse Selbstorganisation (Applicant Damberg, Wilhelm )
- Transformationen der diakonisch-caritativen Handlungsformen der Konfessionen im Spannungsfeld von Weltorientierung und sozialer Dienstleistung (Applicant Jähnichen, Traugott )
- Zentralprojekt (Applicant Damberg, Wilhelm )
Spokesperson
Professor Dr. Wilhelm Damberg
