PROCESSES OF ACTUAL DESECULARIZATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA
PROCESSES OF ACTUAL DESECULARIZATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Summary/Abstract: The complex period of globalization, followed by social-economic and cultural modernization, has been supposed to lead to disappearing of the religion. In contrary, all those processes are leading to its revitalization. When we talk about religious processes in the modern industrial and postindustrial societies, as well as the post socialists and the societies in transition, the desecularization becomes an inevitable concept. The process of desecularization, respectively, the religion back up on the world scene is the main characteristic of the modern society. However, that does not mean rejecting the theory of secularization, but its revision. The period after 70’s and 80’s of the previous century, is the period of religion reviving in the biggest part of the world. This period is accompanied by a strong social and political influence of religion. With the introduction of political pluralism, as well as the change in the legislation, there is considerable relief in the work of religious organizations compared to the period of socialism. The revitalization of religion began in the early 1990s. Initially, the revitalization process of religion is perceived through the revitalization of the actual ritual behavior. In our country, the emergence of MOC-OA and IRC since its decades of isolation within the framework of privacy and their gradual inclusion in public life has been supported by greater media coverage of religious organizations, as well as a resurgence of religious literature and publishing. The question arises as to how post-socialist democratic processes affect the religiosity increasing. The results of the researches made in the post-socialist period show that in addition to the old Latent believers who now freely manifest their religion, there is the appearance of new believers, ie, a real increase of religiosity is evident. Not always the revitalization of religion is the result of only the profound changes in the spiritual life of people in the direction of returning to religion and the aspiration for spiritualization, but the period of revitalization of religion is related to the deep social and political changes associated with the collapse of socialism, as well as the disintegration of former Yugoslavia; respectively, the revitalization of religion is the result of the social, territorial, national and confessional homogenization of the population in the republics within the former Yugoslavia.

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