A Critical Analysis on the Concept of Religion in Dominant Social Sciences Literature: An Investigation on Modern and Late Modern Period

This study aims at investigating some of the major interpretations on the status of religion in social sciences literature. As the main rationale for this investigation, it will be claimed that the dominant religious discourse in modern and late modern periods has difficulty in understanding this notion in its own uniqueness. In the light of the problem summarized above, the first section of the study will be based on some meta-narratives regarding the process of secularization and retreat of religion from socio-political life in post-Enlightenment period. At this point, dynamics and diversity of secularization among Western World will shortly be looked over. On the following section, globalization discourse and the view on religious phenomena in late modern period will be discussed in the light of some arguments such as de-secularization, return to religion, multiculturalism, etc. After that, the criticisms on the similar meta-narratives on religion maintained by thinkers in late modern period will be given. Some arguments such as 'religion as a commercialization process', 'post-emotional religion', etc. will represent the main subjects of this section.