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Toward a Contextualized Concept of Civil Religion

University of Copenhagen (Denmark), pluchau{at}hum.ku.dk

A new definition of civil religion is needed because there are almost as many definitions as there are writers on the subject. By combining two existing concepts it can be shown that most existing definitions of civil religion are related. The two concepts are religious pluralism versus monoculture and public versus private religion. The first takes into consideration that civil religion will look different in a mono-religious country than in a multi-religious country. The second makes a distinction between civil religion at a rhetorical level (e.g. speeches) and at a personal level (individual religiosity). Although there are many different definitions of civil religion, the differences can be reconciled if the religious situation and the analytical level are taken into consideration. Hopefully this will make future discussions and analyses of civil religion more comparable.

Key Words: civil religion • religion and nation • sociology of religion • theory construction

Social Compass, Vol. 56, No. 3, 371-386 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0037768609338764


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