“Race in a Godless World” examines the racial thought of atheists in Britain and the United States from about 1850 to 1914. While there have been no comprehensive studies of atheists' views on race, there is a trend in the historiography on racial thought, which I have described as the “Race-Secularization Thesis,” that suggests a link between the secularization in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and an increase in nineteenth-century racialism – that is, racial essentialism and determinism – as well as resulting racial prejudice and discrimination. Through a study of both leading and lesser-known atheists and freethinkers, I argue that the “Race-Secularization Thesis” needs to be reconsidered. A simple link between secularization and racialism is misleading. This is not to suggest that the “Race-Secularization Thesis” contains no truth, only that secularization did not inevitably lead to racialism. This dissertation helps to tell a more complex and nuanced story about the relationship between atheism and racial thought. While in some cases, nineteenth-century atheists and freethinkers were among the leading exponents of racialist views, there is an alternative story in which the atheist worldview – through its emphasis on rationality and skepticism – provided the tools with which to critique ideas of racial prejudice, racial superiority, and even the concept of race itself.

The phenomenon of alienation is closely related to the current morality crisis as it affects the very core of man's being. It appears that this phenomenon is not only a contemporary problem. It is as old as civilization itself, although its manifestation had taken on different forms in different eras. In this study alienation is analysed in time perspective. The following exponents pertaining to this phenomenon are examined closely: Plotinus, Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, Durkheim, Fromm and the contemporary society. In the contemporary situation alienation manifests in various ways within the family and society. The disintegration of the family is escalating. More children are abused in a childhostile society. The generation gap is widening and suicide amongst teenagers is increasing. Man becomes more lonely and experiences an identity crisis from which he tries to escape by means of narcissism. Possible contributing factors to the above-mentioned are secularisation, nihilism, urbanisation and the negative influence of science and technology. The need of contemporary society cannot be realized without knowledge pertaining to the nature and essential characteristics of alienation. An accountable mode of thought grounded in time and space can be utilised towards bringing man to his senses. In attempting to establish authentic thought and accompaniment the reflective mode of thought can be implemented by the agogoque to take a stand against the degraded view o( man and world. This could result in man regaining a sense of security and could possibly lead to establishing an authentic world-view, mode of thought and accompaniment. / Die aktualiteit van die ontheemdingsverskynsel hang ten nouste met die moraliteitskrisis saam waarin die eietydse beskawing horn bevind, want dit raak die mens in sy diepste wese. Die ontheemdingsverskynsel is egter nie net 'n eietydse probleem nie, maar manifesteer verskillend in verskillende tydperke en dateer sover as die ontstaan van die beskawing self terug. Hierdie studie word vanuit 'n tydsperspektief belig. Die volgende eksponente met betrekking tot hierdie verskynsel sal noukeurig ondersoek word: Plotinus, Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, Durkheim, Fromm en die eietydse bestel. In die eietyd manifesteer ontheemding op verskeie maniere in die gesin en samelewing. Gesinsverbrokkeling neem toe en kinders word al meer in 'n kind-vyandige samelewing verwerp. Die generasiegaping word groter en tienerselfmoord kom toenemend voor. Die vereensaamde mens beleef 'n identiteitskrisis en soek in narcisme ontvlugting. Moontlike oorsaaklike faktore vir bogenoemde is sekularisasie, nihilisme, verstedeliking en die negatiewe invloed van die wetenskap en tegnologie. Die nood waarin die eietydse samelewing horn bevind, kan nie sonder kennis van die aard en die wese wat kenmerkend van die ontheemdingsverskynsel is, besef word me. 'n Verantwoordbare denkweg wat in die tydlikheid en ruimtelikheid begrond is, hied die moontlikheid om die mens tot besinning te bring. Hierdie besinnende denkweg waarin die agogieker teen die gedegradeerde mens- en wereldbeskouing standpunt inneem, kan as korrektief dien en tot outentieke denke en begeleiding aanleiding gee. Dan sal die ontheemde mens weer die nodige geborgenheid ervaar en sal dit moontlik wees om weer outentiek wereld te konstitueer, te leef, te <link en te begelei. / D.Litt. et Phil. (History of Education)

The main aim of this study is to analyze how secular organizations deal with religion in international development work, both officially and practically, and how they describe the meeting between the secular ideology and the religious context. To answer these questions we have interviewed seven employees of different secular organizations who are well familiar with the organization’s operational as well as strategic work. The study also examines the official documents of each organization. The result show that none of the organizations has any policies about religion and that there is no active dialogue about how to deal with religion within the organizations. The results also show that religion is described as a tool and a resource for change rather than is implemented in the development work. Further, the dialogue around religion is often translated into secular terms. In order to problematize and to analyze the results, the study has mainly been inspired by theories of postcolonialism, secularism, path dependency and historical institutionalism which all together highlight the issue of secularism, religion and development. / Syftet med studien har varit att kritiskt analysera hur sekulära organisationer förhåller sig till religionsfrågor i utvecklingssamarbete i religiösa kontexter. Våra frågeställningar berör hur organisationerna förhåller sig officiellt till religionsfrågor i utvecklingssamarbetet, hur de förhåller sig till dessa frågor i praktiken samt hur organisationerna beskriver mötet mellan den sekulära ideologin och den religiösa kontexten. För att ta reda på detta har vi utfört sju kvalitativa intervjuer med anställda inom sekulära organisationer som är väl insatta i organisationernas strategiska och operationella arbete samt i deras ideologiska grunder. Vi har även studerat organisationernas officiella dokument. Studiens resultat visar att samtliga organisationer saknar riktlinjer kring religion, att det inte förs någon aktiv dialog kring religionsfrågor inom organisationerna samt att organisationerna till stor del förhåller sig till religionsfrågor genom att bekräfta och respektera dess förekomst i arbetet. Det framkommer även att religiösa ledare ses som en tillgång och att religion ses som ett verktyg när det kommer till att förankra arbetet. Resultatet visar vidare på att organisationerna delvis förhåller sig till frågorna genom att beskriva dem i mer sekulära termer och pratar snarare om exempelvis mänskliga rättigheter och demokrati än om religion i arbetet i de religiösa kontexterna. I analysen av det insamlade materialet har vi utgått från teorier om sekularisering, postsekularisering, stigberoende, historisk institutionalism samt postkolonialism och även tidigare forskning inom det aktuella området, vilka på olika sätt belyser området kring sekularitet, religion och utveckling.

The phenomenon of alienation is closely related to the current morality crisis as it affects the very core of man's being. It appears that this phenomenon is not only a contemporary problem. It is as old as civilization itself, although its manifestation had taken on different forms in different eras. In this study alienation is analysed in time perspective. The following exponents pertaining to this phenomenon are examined closely: Plotinus, Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, Durkheim, Fromm and the contemporary society. In the contemporary situation alienation manifests in various ways within the family and society. The disintegration of the family is escalating. More children are abused in a childhostile society. The generation gap is widening and suicide amongst teenagers is increasing. Man becomes more lonely and experiences an identity crisis from which he tries to escape by means of narcissism. Possible contributing factors to the above-mentioned are secularisation, nihilism, urbanisation and the negative influence of science and technology. The need of contemporary society cannot be realized without knowledge pertaining to the nature and essential characteristics of alienation. An accountable mode of thought grounded in time and space can be utilised towards bringing man to his senses. In attempting to establish authentic thought and accompaniment the reflective mode of thought can be implemented by the agogoque to take a stand against the degraded view o( man and world. This could result in man regaining a sense of security and could possibly lead to establishing an authentic world-view, mode of thought and accompaniment. / Die aktualiteit van die ontheemdingsverskynsel hang ten nouste met die moraliteitskrisis saam waarin die eietydse beskawing horn bevind, want dit raak die mens in sy diepste wese. Die ontheemdingsverskynsel is egter nie net 'n eietydse probleem nie, maar manifesteer verskillend in verskillende tydperke en dateer sover as die ontstaan van die beskawing self terug. Hierdie studie word vanuit 'n tydsperspektief belig. Die volgende eksponente met betrekking tot hierdie verskynsel sal noukeurig ondersoek word: Plotinus, Hegel, Feuerbach, Marx, Durkheim, Fromm en die eietydse bestel. In die eietyd manifesteer ontheemding op verskeie maniere in die gesin en samelewing. Gesinsverbrokkeling neem toe en kinders word al meer in 'n kind-vyandige samelewing verwerp. Die generasiegaping word groter en tienerselfmoord kom toenemend voor. Die vereensaamde mens beleef 'n identiteitskrisis en soek in narcisme ontvlugting. Moontlike oorsaaklike faktore vir bogenoemde is sekularisasie, nihilisme, verstedeliking en die negatiewe invloed van die wetenskap en tegnologie. Die nood waarin die eietydse samelewing horn bevind, kan nie sonder kennis van die aard en die wese wat kenmerkend van die ontheemdingsverskynsel is, besef word me. 'n Verantwoordbare denkweg wat in die tydlikheid en ruimtelikheid begrond is, hied die moontlikheid om die mens tot besinning te bring. Hierdie besinnende denkweg waarin die agogieker teen die gedegradeerde mens- en wereldbeskouing standpunt inneem, kan as korrektief dien en tot outentieke denke en begeleiding aanleiding gee. Dan sal die ontheemde mens weer die nodige geborgenheid ervaar en sal dit moontlik wees om weer outentiek wereld te konstitueer, te leef, te <link en te begelei. / D.Litt. et Phil. (History of Education)

This thesis examines the changes in priestly formation at the Archdiocese of São Paulo between 1958 and 1984, focusing on the following dimensions: working method, disciplinary measures, spiritual practices and intellectual formation. Although the changes are concerned with the nature of social institutions, this period was characterized by very intense changes in priestly formation towards an increasing secularization of the religious practices and discourse. This thesis, based on the theoretical tools developed by the sociologist Peter Berger, examines the correlations between the modernization of São Paulo society, with its consequent objective and subjective secularization process, and changes occurred in the archdiocesan priestly formation. Therefore, as Brazil and the city of São Paulo - advanced center of Brazilian modernization - were introduced in the spiral process of rapid secularization, traditional Catholic education has become dysfunctional to the interests of Catholicism. After all, to each form of social organization corresponded certain kind of Catholic priest whose function was to conserve or enhance the structure of domination of Catholicism. For this, it was necessary to strengthen its plausibility structure, namely, the social base that makes it a socially relevant discourse. Within the context of the military regime and the opening of the Catholic Church to the world, with the ecclesiastical politics of Vatican II, d. Paulo Arns decided to put the archdiocese in the struggle for human rights and criticism of the Brazilian development model. Thus, opted to introduce archdiocesan Catholicism into the interests and secular reality, considering that the secularized religious clientage of São Paulo has secular issues at the center of their interests. For this, had to operate a reordering of archdiocesan pastoral, including priestly formation in order to adapt it to new pastoral praxis. This process of secularization of religious consciousness led to the end of educational activity at the seminary and the reform of theology school in accordance with the canons of secular thought. Therefore, emerged a new kind of priestly formation and a new secularized religious discourse that legitimated it: liberation theology. / Esta tese trata das transformações na formação sacerdotal da Arquidiocese de São Paulo entre os anos de 1958 e 1984, concentrando-se nas seguintes dimensões: regime de funcionamento, regime disciplinar, práticas espirituais e formação intelectual. Embora as mudanças sejam da natureza das instituições sociais, esse período foi caracterizado por mudanças bastante intensas na formação sacerdotal no sentido de uma crescente secularização das práticas e do discurso religiosos. Esta tese, baseando-se no instrumental teórico desenvolvido pelo sociólogo Peter Berger, analisa as correlações entre a modernização da sociedade paulistana, com o seu consequente processo de secularização objetivo e subjetivo, e as mudanças ocorridas no seio da formação sacerdotal arquidiocesana. Dessa forma, à medida que o Brasil e a cidade de São Paulo centro avançado da modernização brasileira foram introduzidos na espiral do rápido processo de secularização, a formação tradicional católica tornou-se disfuncional aos interesses do catolicismo. Afinal, a cada forma de organização social correspondeu certo tipo de sacerdote católico, cuja função foi conservar ou aumentar a estrutura de dominação do catolicismo. Para isso, foi preciso fortalecer a sua estrutura de plausibilidade, isto é, a base social que torna um discurso relevante socialmente. Dentro do contexto do regime militar e da abertura da Igreja Católica ao mundo, com a política eclesiástica do Concílio Vaticano II, d. Paulo Arns resolveu inserir a Arquidiocese nas lutas pelos direitos humanos e na crítica do modelo de desenvolvimento brasileiro. Dessa forma, optou pela inserção do catolicismo arquidiocesano no âmbito dos interesses e realidades seculares, tendo em vista que a clientela religiosa secularizada da cidade de São Paulo tem as questões seculares no centro de seus interesses. Para isso, teve de operar uma reordenação da pastoral arquidiocesana, inclusive, da formação sacerdotal, a fim de adequá-la à nova práxis pastoral. Esse processo de secularização da consciência religiosa conduziu ao fim da atividade formativa no seminário e à reforma da faculdade de teologia de acordo com os cânones do pensamento secular. Por isso, surgiu uma nova modalidade de formação sacerdotal e um novo discurso religioso secularizado que a legitimava: a teologia da libertação.

Previous research has indicated a decreased use of textbooks among religious education teachers, while students with a religious background perceive themselves as a vulnerable minority in classrooms. It also points to a post-Christian society where schools now take responsibility for knowledge about the Christian faith and how it should be understood. Simultaneously, secularization is increasing in society, and people express a secularist attitude towards religion. The aim of this essay is to examine the representation of Christianity in religious education textbooks for upper secondary school based on secular and secularist discourses, and analyze how the results can be interpreted in terms of the concepts of alliance, othering, positive essentialism, and negative essentialism. The theories that were utilized included modified secularization theory, discourse theory, and essentialism in religious education. These were combined with the methods of discourse analysis and critical discourse analysis. The conclusion from this study is that in the selected books, positive and negative essentialism occurred to varying degrees, indicating a lack of objectivity. There were also numerous alliances and instances of othering, which in several cases suggested secular and secularist discourses.

Så säger en av romangestalterna i Sven Delblancs Samuelsvit ochger därmed uttryck – ett av många – åt något som skulle kunna benämnas ’vanmaktens makt’. Vanmaktens makt har också blivit titeln på denna undersökning av sekulariseringstematiken i Delblancs Samuelsvit och Änkan. – Hur framställs och bearbetas sekulariseringen i dessa texter? – Vilka bilder ger de av sekulariseringsprocessen och dess följder,av ett sekulariserat samhälle och en sekulariserad människa? Dessa frågor, bland andra, diskuterar Helene Blomqvist i denna studie.Delblancs fem romaner bearbetar två livsfrågor som tycks bli på ett särskilt sätt aktualiserade genom sekulariseringen: frågan omontologin och frågan om etiken. Det handlar å ena sidan om ett teoretiskt spörsmål – om hur man kan uppfatta tillvarons grundläggande beskaffenhet – och å andra sidan om ett praktiskt – hurman bäst skall leva sitt liv i denna värld. Såväl Samuelsviten som Änkan gör upp räkningen med en gammal monistisk allsmäktig-Gud-ontologi. Teodicéproblemet visar sig vara trons stötesten: föreställningenom en allsmäktig och allgod gud kan inte fås att rimma med allt det destruktiva i tillvaron, ondskans framfart,eget och andras lidande. Romanerna gestaltar alla ett sökande efter en mer hållbar ontologisk och etisk grund. Hur skulle ett sådant alternativ kunna se ut? Detta är frågor som är helt centrala för Delblancs romaner och således också för denna undersökning. / <p>Distrubution: Genom författaren</p>

EN The purpose of my thesis is to analyse the process of secularization in the post-war era in Italy. The study is focused on lower social classes. The aim of my thesis is to show the complexity of the process such as secularization; on the one hand there are statistic numbers showing the trend of falling religiosity, on the other hand we know Italians as believers in God and Italy as a country with catholic symbols appearing openly in public. To understand this ambivalence, it is necessary to distinguish church, religion and faith. As a primary source for my thesis I have chosen novels of the neorealist writers. As neorealism tries to capture predominantly the social reality and the writers show greater capability of uncovering the motivation of historical figure than any other possible sources, selecting the works of the neorealist writers proves to be more than suitable. The main methodology chosen for my thesis is typification, through which I tried to define the social stereotypes. The thesis is composed of nine chapters. Chapters one to three describe the political, economic and social situation of post-war Italy and define the social segment on which the thesis is focused. Presented is a characterization of neorealism and the authors as well as the most important theories of secularization...

Dentro do movimento de pluralização confessional ensejado pela secularização (característica da modernidade religiosa brasileira), recorto para fins de estudo um processo mais específico, a saber: o de adensamento institucional do espiritismo kardecista entre as décadas de 1920 e 1960. Por meio do exame de trajetórias de agentes de relevância desse segmento e de sua produção intelectual religiosa, a análise que se pretendeu realizar levou em consideração as disputas materiais e simbólicas entre formas distintas de visões espíritas de mundo. Sob esse enquadramento, o objetivo foi o de compreender e explicar como são articulados os sistemas de crenças espíritas e quais são as fontes de autoridade em jogo. Foram abertas duas frentes de trabalho. A primeira delas consistiu basicamente na reconstituição histórica de algumas coordenadas importantes para a compreensão tanto do cenário quanto do elenco espíritas. Na segunda, foi levado a cabo um trabalho de definição sociológica do que poderia vir a ser um clero espírita, e mais particularmente, quais os contornos que caracterizam os diferentes papéis desempenhados pelos vários atores em cena / Within the movement of confessional pluralization led by secularization (a characteristic of Brazilian religious modernity), I circumscribe, for the purpose of this study, a more specific process, namely, the institutional densification of Kardecist Spiritism between the decades of 1920 and 1960. Through the examination of trajectories of relevant agents in this segment and their religious intellectual production, the analysis took into account the material and symbolic disputes between distinct forms of spiritist worldviews. Through this prism, the objective was to understand and explain how spiritist belief systems are articulated and what are the actual sources of authority. There are two work fronts. The first one basically consists in a historical reconstitution of some important coordinates for the understanding of both the scenery and the spiritist cast. On the second work front, the purpose was to build a sociological definition of what could be a spiritist clergy, and, more particularly, what outlines characterize the different roles played by the various actors on the scene

Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-27T13:46:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 MARGARETH PEREIRA ARBUES.pdf: 2298290 bytes, checksum: 52c8f4ee5137ca1ce23adc0b8151a7e9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-12 / This thesis presented reflections about the relationship between gender, religion and work. The objective of the research was to analyze the process of integrating women into the banking work universe - considered until the century XX, male exclusivity - and how religiosity and faith influenced in the process of conquest and feminization of this sector in Brazil. For this, we analyzed the trajectory of women workers who, by influence of Judeo-Christian culture, which model of patriarchy continues to generate submission and exclusion, promotes, even today, gender inequality at work, although occupy same positions and perform the same functions. The research identified deep marks of symbolic violence present in the workplace, observing that the womans performance in the banking labor market happens, even today, in noticeably unequal and exclusionary conditions. The superiority assigned to male for centuries through religion, laws, school and family reproduces in that space, daily, and has been appropriated by capital and reproduced in labor relations, by the same system that summons the woman for the labor market (feminization of the workforce) paid and that accepts as legitimate working, but affect their living conditions and work. With the search result, it was found that women account for the largest labor portion in the sector and occupy most managerial positions, without, however, reaching the pinnacle of executive occupations, leaving them only those intermediaries. To prove the hypothesis, it was adopted as a methodological basis for qualitative approach, using quantitative data. The field survey was conducted through questionnaires application and interviews semi structured achievements, aiming to know opinions, interests, expectations and situations experienced by banks managers of Goiania, with the objective to analyze their profiles (personal and professional) and them perceptions of beliefs and religiousness as support and strength in the face of adversity that are daily subjected. It was observed that even the technological advances, the increased level of schooling, the conquest of good jobs, changes in family relationships and in the spaces of sociability were sufficient to ensure gender equality. To justify such subjective, it was concluded, with this thesis that women, with all the social achievements and advances arising from the secularized society and the modernity arisen from globalized times, attributed, still, to religion, a power significant, of conforming, that interferes as a constituent in gender identities and therefore in labor relations. / Esta tese apresentou reflexões acerca das relações entre gênero, religião e trabalho. O objetivo da pesquisa foi analisar o processo de inserção das mulheres no universo do trabalho bancário , considerado, até o séc. XX, de exclusividade masculina , e como a religiosidade e a fé influenciaram nesse processo de conquista e feminização desse setor no Brasil. Para isso, analisamos a trajetória das mulheres trabalhadoras que, por influência da cultura judaico-cristã, cujo modelo de patriarcado continua gerando submissão e exclusão, promove, ainda hoje, a desigualdade de gêneros no trabalho, apesar de ocuparem mesmos cargos e desempenharem iguais funções. A pesquisa identificou profundas marcas da violência simbólica presente no ambiente de trabalho, ao observar que a atuação da mulher no mercado de trabalho bancário se dá, ainda hoje, em condições visivelmente desiguais e excludentes. A superioridade designada ao sexo masculino, durante séculos, por meio da religião, das leis, da escola e da família se reproduz naquele espaço, cotidianamente, e tem sido apropriada pelo capital e reproduzida nas relações de trabalho, pelo mesmo sistema que convoca a mulher para o mercado de trabalho (feminização da mão de obra) remunerado e que a aceita como trabalhadora legítima, mas, que precariza sua condição de vida e trabalho. Com o resultado da pesquisa, constatou-se que as mulheres representam a maior parcela de mão de obra no setor e ocupam a maioria dos cargos gerenciais, sem, contudo, atingir o apogeu das ocupações executivas, restando-lhes apenas, aqueles intermediários. Para comprovar a hipótese levantada, adotou-se como base metodológica a abordagem qualitativa, com a utilização de dados quantitativos. A pesquisa de campo foi feita por meio da aplicação de questionários e realizações de entrevistas semiestruturadas, visando conhecer opiniões, interesses, expectativas e situações vivenciadas pelas gerentes de agências bancárias de Goiânia, com o objetivo de analisar seus perfis (pessoal e profissiográfico) e suas percepções de crenças e religiosidade como suporte e força diante das adversidades que cotidianamente são submetidas. Observou-se, assim, que nem mesmo os avanços tecnológicos, o aumento do nível de escolarização, a conquista de bons postos de trabalho, as modificações nas relações familiares e nos espaços de sociabilidade foram suficientes para garantir a igualdade de gênero. Para justificar essa sujeição, concluiu-se, com esta tese, que as mulheres, com todas as conquistas sociais e avanços decorrentes da sociedade secularizada e da modernidade advinda dos tempos globalizados, atribuem, ainda, à religião, um poder significante, conformador, que interfere como constituinte nas identidades de gênero e, por conseguinte, nas relações de trabalho.