‘Secularization’ and ‘post-secularization’. Commensurability and incommensurability between ‘sociologic paradigms’ in 21st Century Argentina

Abstract

Until not long ago the "paradigm of secularization" had the support of leading European and American sociologists. However, since the late decades and because religion has - instead of disappearing, as it was foreseen - only lost the degree of institutionalization it had previously enjoyed, this paradigm has begun to be challenged by some social scientists, especially in Latin America and, particularly, in Argentina. At present, the point is to see whether the proposal on "post-secularization", brought to the foreground at the controversy that arouse between Habermas and Ratzinger in 2004, may be assessed as a new sociological paradigm, more in keeping with the acknowledged social conditions of an era when postmodern thinking admittedly predominates. In order to explain this issue, our article analyses the levels of “incommensurability” and “commensurability” existing between "secularization" and "post-secularization". Furthermore, from this starting point, we will attempt to determine their role in the sociological analysis of XXI century Argentina.