Faith in the familiar : religion, spirituality, and place in the south of the Netherlands

Faith in the Familiar is an ethnography of religious change in the Netherlands, a country that has moved from strongly pillarized to strongly secularist in the space of fifty years. This book shows how people look back on this, but also how Catholic rituals continue to play a role in the reproduction of place. Furthermore, it shows how forms of spiritualism and new age have become part of a pluralistic local religious landscape, and are used to create new ways of relating to religious authority and to reshape personal relationships. Situating itself within general theories of religious change in Western Europe, it offers a contribution to this discussion from an angle that is often neglected, focusing on locality, rather than on globalization; on what happens to ‘old'religion, rather than on new religious trends, on popular forms of ‘spirituality'rather than on middle class and highbrow spirituality. Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 Chapter One Situating the Research 11 1. Introduction 11 2. Secularization Theory: Premises and Predictions 13 3. Criticisms and Attempts to Redefine the Field 16 4. Conceptualizing the Subject Matter 25 5. Description of the Research 35 Chapter Two Moral Discourses in Dutch Catholicism: from Pillarization, via Liberation to Polarization 41 1. Introduction 41 2. Catholic in Everything: Triumph and Moral Anxiety 46 3. From Moralizing to Psychologizing 53 4. The Local Church Versus Papal Power Play 58 5. Catholicism in Limburg 64 6. Concluding Remarks 70 Chapter Three Narratives of the Past, Progress and Polarization 73 1. Introduction 73 2. Representations of the Past 78 3. Changes 85 4. Polarization 88 5. Comparison of Past and Present 92 6. Concluding Remarks 96 Chapter Four Religious Authority, Ritual and the Familiar 99 1. Introduction 99 2. Rituals Around Death and Dying 101 3. Becoming Modern 110 4. Re-Signification of the Catholic Tradition 121 5. Concluding Remarks 123 Chapter Five Practicing Spirituality 127 1. Introduction 127 2. Power and Knowledge 135 3. Relationships and the Demands of Individualism 143 4. Sceptical Positivism 149 5. Spiritual Consumer Culture 150 6. Concluding Remarks 153 Chapter Six Liberal Catholicism: The Burden of the Past and the Problem of the Present 157 1. Introduction 157 2. The Sacralization of Uncertainty 161 3. The Burden of the Past 167 4. The Problem of the Present 171 5. Gossip and Stereotyping 178 6. Concluding Remarks 180 Chapter Seven Conclusions 183 Bibliography 187 Index of Modern Authors 195 Index of Subjects and Persons 196 This book is an ethnography of religious change in the Netherlands, a country that has moved from strongly pillarized to strongly secularist in the space of fifty years. This book shows how people look back on this, but also how Catholic rituals continue to play a role in the reproduction of place. Furthermore, it shows how forms of spiritualism and new age have become part of a pluralistic local religious landscape, and are used to create new ways of relating to religious authority and reshape personal relationships. Situating itself within general theories of religious change in Western Europe, it offers a contribution to this discussion from an angle that is often neglected, focusing on locality, rather than on globalization; on what happens to 'old' religion, rather than on new religious trends, on popular forms of 'spirituality' rather than middle class and highbrow spirituality Faith In The Familiar Is An Ethnography Of Religious Change In The Netherlands, Discussing Catholicism And Popular Forms Of New Age. It Focuses On The Location Of Religion In Local Life And How People Relate To Religious Authority.