Old, New, and Emerging Paradigms in the Sociological Study of Religion

This article argues that a significant shift is taking place in the sociological study of religion, and seeks to outline its main features. In order to do so it returns to Stephen Warner’s classic article of 1993 which drew a contrast between ‘old’ and ‘new’ paradigms in the sociology of religion. It develops Warner’s analysis by setting these paradigms in their European and American contexts respectively, and argues that there are signs of a third, ‘emerging’ paradigm which moves beyond these dichotomous alternatives. Not by coincidence, the emerging paradigm also moves beyond methodological nationalism, taking a more global view of religion. In addition, it breaks free from captivity to a single theoretical perspective (whether ‘secularisation’/religious decline or ‘rational choice’/religious vitality), and embraces broader theoretical, conceptual, and methodological