ABSTRACT
This chapter deconstructs the current sociological understanding of the complex nature of religious phenomenon and focuses on the relationship between religious experience and religious structures. From the perspective of agency, I review different theories and numerous concepts involving various configurations of religious forms and demonstrate how the sociology of religion distinguishes between subjective and structural aspects of religion. As the relationship between religious experience and social structures is crucial, especially in the study of the dynamism of religious life, I give special attention to religious transformation and examine religious change from the perspective of the complex relationship between the individual and social structure, reflexivity and culture. The central question of this part of the book is how social change affects the shaping of religious identity and how sociological theories of religion address the question of social agency in the context of religion. I carefully deconstruct the sociological category of individualization and demonstrate the complexity of this process. The general conclusion from this chapter is a firm statement that the study of religious change especially requires a clear, methodical conceptualization of the process of constructing religious identity.
