New Religions and Secularization. Methodological Impasse

Summary

The article reviews the theoretical foundations of New Religious Movements (NRMs), New Age studies, and Western Esotericism, highlighting that their advancement is hindered by contradictions in defining each field. In NRM studies, the category of "newness" has lost descriptive precision; New Age phenomena suffer from uncertain boundaries and a lack of unified interpretive principles; and Western Esotericism encompasses mutually exclusive definitions. As a productive alternative, the author proposes Charles Taylor's concept of secularization from *A Secular Age* (2007), which frames secularization not as religious decline but as a shift in belief conditions within the "immanent frame." Taylor's model helps overcome fragmentation by situating new religious phenomena within the broader transformation of Western spiritual life.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the theoretical foundations of three significant fields: New Religious Movements (NRMs) studies, New Age studies, and Western Esotericism. The author offers a historical overview of these domains, reconstructing the scholarly background and interdisciplinary context of their conceptual formation. It is argued that the primary obstacle to their advancement lies in profound contradictions regarding the definition of their subject matter. In NRM studies, the category of “newness” is critiqued for losing descriptive precision. Regarding the New Age phenomenon, the author highlights the uncertainty of its boundaries and the lack of unified interpretive principles, while examining the heuristic distinction between New Age sensu stricto and sensu lato. Within the discourse on Western Esotericism, the article identifies mutually exclusive definitions, ranging from esotericism as a “form of thought” or “discourse” to its view as a product of marginalization or socially institutionalized “secret knowledge”. As a productive theoretical alternative, the author proposes the concept of secularization developed by Charles Taylor in A Secular Age (2007). The article reconstructs Taylor’s framework, analyzing secularization not as the mere decline of religion, but as a shift in the conditions of belief within the “immanent frame”. Special attention is paid to the trajectory of modern spirituality and the emergence of “exclusive humanism” as a fundamental characteristic of the modern epoch. The conclusion substantiates the heuristic potential of Taylor’s ideas for religious studies. By outlining this model, the author asserts that Taylor’s optics allow for overcoming the fragmentation of current approaches, situating new religious phenomena within the broader transformation of Western spiritual life.

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