Religiooni uurimise probleemidest sotsiaalkonstruktsionistlikus perspektiivis

Abstract

Problems of Studying Religion: a Social Constructionist Perspective
The article adopts a social constructionist perspective to examine problems associated with the study of religion in the past fifty years. There is a criticism ofboth essentialism and functionalism, which have used universal definitions and concepts of religion. According to the social constructivist view, religion does not have any fixed properties or functions that would be valid everywhere at all times; they are, rather, in a situation of continuous re-establishment, recreation and modification, similarly to the scientific understanding of what religion is. The author also examines secularisation as a general theory in the sociology of religion and disintegration of this theory as a result of empirical data that demonstrates the increasing influence of religion in society (except in Europe). This has posed a challenge to conventional theoretical perspectives in social sciences where the topic of religion has been moved to a marginal position. However, rapid developments in the religious field have led to the understanding that religion will assume a larger, rather than a smaller role during late modernism and that it was a mistake to overlook it in socio-theoretical discussions. In addition, it has been established that the cultural impact factors deserve greater attention alongside the social factors, because otherwise it would be impossible to explain the major differences between religiosity in the countries with similar social structures or political history. The above considerations have to be taken into account when studying the situation in Estonia, which is distinctive because of very low indicators of organised religiosity and high indicators of individual religiosity.