Berkley Center

This curricular module explores gender and theory in the globalization of religion, complicating the traditional secularization thesis that religion will become less important as societies progress. José Casanova explores European theories of modern secularization and competing theories of global religious revival as interrelated dynamics in a 2019 article on “Global Religious and Secular Dynamics: The Modern System of Classification” [PDF]. Casanova also reflected on gender and globalization with sociologist Nilüfer Göle in a 2020 panel on “Islam and Western Secular Modernity” [video].

Below, you can explore more resources on religion and globalization, including an expanded module guide, with additional materials on theoretical perspectives and gender.

These materials are designed to engage students with the following issues:

• historical and contemporary processes of the globalization of religion, global denominationalism, and religious-secular dynamics [Casanova, “Globalization and the Growing Church,” open access; “Globalization and the Free Exercise of Religion Worldwide,” PDF; “Global Religious and Secular Dynamics,” PDF]
• gender and globalization [Marshall article, open access; “The Church and the World: Secular Morality and the Challenge of Gender,” video; “Islam and Western Secular Modernity,” video; O’Sullivan essay, Berkley Forum; Johnson essay, Berkley Forum]

Instructors are encouraged to look through topics below and adapt these questions to their needs. For a related module, please see "Religion and Globalization: Catholicism and Islam."