ABSTRACT
For much of the twentieth century, secularization theory provided the chief model for our understanding of the emergence of Western modernity. The theory proposed that during the modern period the West had witnessed a marked decline in religious practice, a waning of the public influence of religion, and the loss of plausibility of core religious beliefs. Ian Hunter's paper introduces the collection and sets the scene for much of the subsequent discussion with an incisive typology of secularization narratives. In subsequent publications he has been critical of prominent narratives of secularization of the kind advanced by thinkers such as Charles Taylor and Brad Gregory. Dominic Erdozain deals with a similar secularization narrative - the idea that it is the Enlightenment that marks a decisive shift away from religion and towards secular modernity. Conal Condren has produced a formidable body of scholarship that lies at the intersection of political philosophy and intellectual history, focusing primarily on the early modern period.
