Religious Transformations in Europe: Individual Life Paths between Secularism and (New) Religiosity in the 19th Century

Framed within the long nineteenth century, this volume focuses on individuals who, over the course of their lives, distanced themselves from their original religious communities – whether by aligning with other groups or by seeking to reform and transform their communities from within1. We interpret such processes as moments of transition and border crossing, and we aim to uncover and interpret forms of religious behavior against the broader backdrop of processes of »secularization«2. Rather than treating secularization as a linear or clear-cut process of religious decline, we explore how the emergence of a more secularized society created space for innovation and creativity. Following Charles Taylor’s and other scholars’ insights, we assume that religion retained a strong formative and generative power even in modern contexts, remaining compatible with some of the tenets of modernity. In this sense, secularization may be understood not simply as a process that highlights the decline of religious observance and practice, but possibly as a path of transformation through which religious motifs and meanings continue to exert influence – even beyond the bounds of traditional religious institutions3