Secularization as a Decline in Religious Authority Over Gender

Recent secularization debates have helped to interpret the changing influence of religion over time and over social life. I argue that Chaves' (1994) conception of secularization, that secularization occurs as a decline in religious authority, is an effective theoretical tool for describing rel...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Meyers, Catherine E.
Format: Others
Published: BYU ScholarsArchive 2005
Subjects:
Online Access:https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/685
https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1684&context=etd
Description
Summary:Recent secularization debates have helped to interpret the changing influence of religion over time and over social life. I argue that Chaves' (1994) conception of secularization, that secularization occurs as a decline in religious authority, is an effective theoretical tool for describing religious change over time. Using GSS data and the example of gender ideology, I attempt to illustrate this concept and argue that this view of secularization, combined with a multidimensional approach to gender, is necessary to more fully explain the changing relationship among religion and gender over time.