AN EVALUATION ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SECULARIZATION AND CAPITALISM IN HISTORICAL PROCESS

Abstract

The phenomenon of religion is a common and old subject to be found in all societies. Secularization is that the influence of religion in a particular society is more or less diminished than before. The mention of a society as secular does not mean that society is irrelevant. It only means that society is more distant from religion. For this reason, even for a religious society, more secular expression can be used than before. Classical secularization theory argues that severe secularization in countries such as the United States, Australia and New Zealand is a result of the modernization process. Secularization theory generally refers to modernized European countries. However, it has different degrees of secularization in the US and European countries. Therefore, it can be said that secularization depends on the specific conditions of that region. Social scientists who examine the reasons of European secularization are the reasons why; they argued that Renaissance, reforming, scientific revolution, age of enlightenment and urbanization and capitalism. As it is known, the new economic model capitalism in the 16th century in Europe, scientific developments in the 17th century and the enlightenment period in the 18th century have been experienced. In this study, the relationship between the emergence of capitalism and secularization in western societies and current situation are evaluated in general. The study was prepared as a literature review.