Secularisatie en economische ontwikkeling

Samenvatting

An examination of the relations between ED and the process of secularization, defined as a change in social organization in which social action receives a new, rational emphasis; institutionalization of tradition turns into an institutionalization of change; and relatively undifferentiated institutions become differentiated and specialized. Secularization is linked with the appearance of industrial society; it requires a high level of natural science and technology, as well as specialized economic institutions freed from dependence on economic values. A distinction is made between the conditions and the implications of ED. The implications include: (1) social stratification; (2) political organization; (3) fam organization; (4) educational advances. Secularization, which is a condition of ED, encounters resistances of the following types: (a) tensions implicit in structural types of industrial society itself; and (b) tensions rooted in structures which existed before the coming of industrial society. It is concluded that further study of industrial society would clarify the causes of these resistances to secularization. I. Langnas.