Contemporary Sociological Sources

Abstract

Taylor’s criticisms of what he calls “mainstream sociology” have led him to choose among contemporary sociological thinkers those who have more culturally- and hermeneutically-sensitive approaches, and those who he can reinterpret in such terms. The more important scholars in this regard are David Martin, Jose Casanova, Hans Joas and, in a lesser degree, Robert Bellah, particularly in the ways in which they see secularization as having multiple trajectories, which are affected by social and cultural factors, a process which is in no way linear. Another point of contact is the way in which they consider the secular/religious divide to be porous, unstable and subject to different legal arrangements. Ideas such as deprivatization of religion, Axial Religion, civil religion, and religious fragilization have also been assimilated from them by Taylor. A second tier of influences refers to work of sociologists Taylor uses for elaborating more specific topics. He cites Benedict Anderson and Bronislaw Baczko when developing what social imaginaries are; he refers to thinkers such as Jurgen Habermas, Stephen Werner and Pierre Rosanvallon when studying modern social imaginaries. Lastly, in his characterization of contemporary religion Taylor seeks support in the work of Robert Wuthnow, Danièlle Hervieu-Lèger, Grace Davie and Wade Clark Roof.