It has been more than a decade since the dictionary of sociologists and political philosophers introduced concepts that are genetically related to secularization, but denote completely different, often opposite processes. We are talking about the concepts of "desecularization", "postsecular" and even "asecularization". All these concepts, in one way or another, are connected with the phenomenon of "rebirth" or "return" of religion, which is celebrated all over the world. In this article, we will discuss the process of desecularization in relation to the Russian post-Soviet reality. As a working definition of desecularization, we will use the conceptualization of this concept proposed by Vyacheslav Karpov, based on the ideas of Peter Berger1.
Peter Berger defined desecularization primarily as a counter-process to secularization. Vyacheslav Karpov went further than Berger and made the necessary clarifications. According to Karpov, desecularization is a process of counter-secularization, during which religion restores its influence on society as a whole, reacting to previous and /or concomitant secularization processes.3 Expanding his definition, Karpov lists those trends, the combination of which forms, in his opinion, the process of desecularization. It highlights the following: "(a) Convergence between previously secularized institutions and religious norms, both formal and informal; (b) the revival of religious beliefs and practices;
1. Berger P. The Desecularization of the World: A Global Overview//The Desecularization of the World: Resurgent Religion and World Politics. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1999; Berger P. Secularization Falsified// First Things. February 2008. P. 23-27 (see the Russian translation in this issue of the journal).
2. Karpov V. Desecularization: A Conceptual Framework//Journal of Church and State. 2010. Vol. 52. No. 2. P. 232-270. See also V. Karpov's article in this issue of the journal.
3. Ibid. P. 250.
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