Bruce on Secularisation | Beliefs in Society | A-Level Sociology

welcome to this tutor to you sociology topic video looking at beliefs in society focusing on the work of steve bruce on secularization steve bruce is a key figure in the debate on secularization in society having written extensively on the topic he argues that there has been a long-term decline in religious affiliation in western society and

developed a framework for explaining how this dates back to the protestant reformation and the calvinist movement drawing on the influence of max weber bruce has outlined the social and economic changes that have influenced the process of secularization in western europe in bruce's secularization paradigm published in 2011 he outlined the three key social changes that occurred with

the protestant reformation and how these social changes developed over time into further changes and influenced the levels of religious belief in society firstly he examined the growth of individualism as an alternative to the collective ideals of religious practice secondly he looked at the impact of the protestant work ethic and how this drove

economic changes in society and finally he examined the development of rationality and how this led to the rejection of faith and the acceptance of science and explaining the problems and issues in modern society in developing this paradigm bruce looked into the development of secularization over hundreds of years following the three different threads

firstly the growth of individualism with the protestant reformation came the loss of collectivism as people move from catholicism to protestantism which was centered more on the actions of the individual than the collective as individualism and the privatization of religious functions grew this led to an increase in the role of commercial organizations the growth of capitalism