Believing without belonging? : detraditionalization of the religious identity of youth in Slovakia

Kardis, Mária (author)

The purpose of my paper1 is to present selected contemporary theories of religion in relation to modernity and late modernity. As well as their application in the Slovak social space. For this purpose, we will use the analysis of contemporary dates. Davie´s concept of “believing without belonging” has led to a number of interesting debates and discussions among scholars of religion and sociology. Some argue that this trend represents a decline in religious participation and an erosion of traditional religious values, while others see it as a positive development that allows for greater diversity and individual expression within religious and spiritual traditions. The aim of this article is to analyze the basic assumptions of Grace Davie’s concept and its application as a conceptual key to explain the transformation of religiosity in contemporary Slovakia, especially youth religiosity. The concept of “religion without obligation” is particularly applicable to the analysis of the dynamics and evolution of religiosity in contemporary Slovakia, especially among youth. The aim here will not be to discuss her works in detail, but only to present a few selected theses that seem relevant to the thought of the scholar in question. This article uses the method of content analysis and desk research.

• Language: English
• Keywords: religious identity, religiosity, religious participation, religiosity of Slovak youth, detraditionalization, secularisation
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 06.08.2025
• Year: 2025
• Number of pages: Str. 161-172
• Numbering: Letn. 85, [št.] 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-175384
• UDC: 299.5-053.6(437.6)
• ISSN on article: 0006-5722
• DOI: 10.34291/BV2025/01/Kardis
• COBISS.SI-ID: 245501699
• Publication date in RUL: 24.10.2025

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Bogoslovni vestnik
• Shortened title: Bogosl. vestn.
• Publisher: Bogoslovna akademija, Bogoslovna akademija, Teološka fakulteta v Ljubljani, Teološka fakulteta Univerze v Ljubljani, Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 0006-5722
• COBISS.SI-ID: 8745472

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Verovati, ne pripadati? : detradicionalizacija verske identitete mladih na Slovaškem

Abstract

Namen prispevka je predstaviti izbrane sodobne teorije religije v razmerju do modernosti in pozne modernosti ter njihovo uporabo v slovaškem družbenem prostoru. V ta namen je bila izvedena analiza sodobnih podatkov. Koncept Grace Davie ‚verovanje brez pripadnosti‘ je med raziskovalci religije in sociologije spodbudil številne pomenljive razprave. Nekateri menijo, da gre za trend upada verske udeležbe in razkroj tradicionalnih verskih vrednot, medtem ko drugi v njem vidijo pozitiven razvoj, ki omogoča večjo raznolikost in individualni izraz znotraj verskih in duhovnih tradicij. Cilj prispevka je analizirati osnovne predpostavke koncepta Grace Davie in kako ga je mogoče uporabiti kot konceptualni ključ za razlago preobrazbe religioznosti na sodobnem Slovaškem, zlasti med mladimi. Tovrstni koncept ‚religije brez obveznosti‘ je posebej uporaben za analizo dinamike in razvoja religioznosti na Slovaškem, predvsem med mladino. Namen ni podrobna obravnava del Grace Davie, temveč predstavitev nekaj izbranih tez, ki se zdijo za razumevanje mišljenja omenjene raziskovalke pomembne. Pri tem uporabljamo metodo analize podatkovnih baz.

• Keywords: verska identiteta, religioznost, verska udeležba, religioznost slovaške mladine, detradicionalizacija, sekularizacija