From Value Spheres to Experiential Realms: A Cultural Theory of Differentiation

• In Event: 132 - Section on Sociology of Religion Paper Session. Religion in Global Perspective

Abstract

Sociologists of religion tend to accept functional differentiation to be the central valid core of the concept of secularization. However, since differentiation has always been understood in terms of Weber’s concept of “value spheres,” it continues to necessitate some form of weakening or decline of religion. I argue that this traditional conception of differentiation is incapable of supporting either the persistence of religion or its ability to support and challenge secular spheres. Instead, I present an alternative, phenomenological conceptualization of differentiation, informed by the cultural sociology of boundary-work. Approaching secularization as the diffusion and proliferation of modes of secularity, this paper sheds light on the cultural processes of living in differentiated “experiential realms.” Using empirical examples of the relationship between realms of “work” and “church” from 12 months of participant observation and interviews with Roman Catholic corporate professionals in India and the Arabian Gulf (N=122), I examine processes through which these secular and religious realms are sustained and relate to one another. I argue that the relative autonomy and consistency of these realms are sustained by three processes—narrative scripts, mimesis, and habituation—and highlight the conditions for and modes of overlap and separation of these realms. I thus explain how differentiation need not entail decline, but diverse modes of interaction between religious and secular realms.

Author

• Brandon Vaidyanathan, Rice University