Modernity: Religious and Ethical Perspectives

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"An examination of the three unique structural features of modern societies: inclusion of the whole population into the nation state, top-down differentiation of institutional spheres and the expansion of individualisation from the top to the base of the social pyramid. The author shows how the above features relate to present day religious phenomena such as secularisation/desecularisation, the new religious movements and the forms of present day spiritualities. He examines the extent to which secularisation and rationalisation led to the "disenchantment of the world". Later, however, one observes a reaction to the established, hierarchically organised churches and to the adherence, mainly of young people, to less structured religious groups, to religious syncretism and to individual seekers who tried to find "their own God". From this perspective, one can argue that we have a partial "re-enchantment of the world""--