De klassiska sekulariseringsteoriernas arv : En kvalitativ, komparativ litteraturstudie om Weber och Durkheims sekulariseringsteorier och deras giltighet idag.

Sammanfattning: The secularization theses has over the last decade been a central issue within the sociology of religion. The two classic theses has been criticized for being one-sided and only focus on the change from traditional to modern society. The intention of this study is to evaluate this critique and to discuss what is defendable in the early secularization thesis in our contemporary world.This essay’s primary purpose is to compare the secularization theses Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism and Durkheim’s The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. I use two analytical models, posing three levels and three categories of secularization, in order to make the comparison explicit. The levels are societal, organization and individual. The categories are descriptive, normative and analytic.As result I have found that there are perspectives of the classical theses of Weber and Durkheim that is defendable in the contemporary world. The critique is valid in some aspects, but not in every.