The Postsecular: A Normative Concept

Abstract

In this article, I examine the concept of postsecular, as been used in current philosophy and sociology, mainly by Jürgen Habermas and Klaus Eder. In order to do this, I analyze the concept from a descriptive perspective, through the data on the religion’s situation in the societies of the United States and Europe. I defend that the concept of “postsecular”, which is said of European societies, is not effective as a descriptive category, since there is not a clear reversal in the secular trend. Rather, I maintain that the concept is valid as a normative category, since it provides some keys to interpret the challenges of integration of religious communities into the context of secular European states. I conclude that the levels of the concept “postsecular” (descriptive and normative) should be differentiated, in order to distinguish between social facts and what it is expected (and why) from citizens faced to such social facts.