The Impact of Urbanization on the Fall of the Secularization Hypothesis: Psychosocial Factors that affect the Rise in Religiosity in the Urban Context of Sri Lanka (Revised)

Abstract

The place that the religious institutions had within the traditional society was taken over by science and with the progress of the society. Along with this progre ss, the emergence of secularization within the so be observed. Secularization was easily identifiable in the urban context and it was also considered as a by urbanization. It was easily observed that the societal structure of the urb an environment leads to secul the urban context. However in the present urban context, an increase in the number of people drawn towards religious prac be observed. And according to the researcher, this transformation of religiosit y in the urban environm due to the nature of the urban societal structure. Hence the urban environment which once, theoretically was a cause of secularization has now become making the man more religious instead. This happens due to the unavoidable social conditions that happen in the urban environment such as individualism, organic solidarity, class division and so on. As a consequence of these social condition be several negative psychological impacts and ultimately it will lead to the negative psychological stat This condition of “fear” will lead the urban man towards religion searching for salvation. Therefore religion will alwa important place in the society. According to many theorists of sociology, secularization is an inevitable social condition that com progress of the society. With the emergence of scientific thought during the renaissance, the slow religion had begun. People started to believe in science which was rational to them in comparison to reli was rather superficial. This is clearly explained through the theory, “law of three stages” by Auguste Comte. In that he explai society has progressed from theological stage to metaphysical stage and then from metaphysical stage stage, when the society let go of the religious beliefs and gave its place to intellect. The urban man was considered as pragmatic and profane. Hence he is identified as a secular man transformation was clearly seen in the urban environment. Therefore it can be considered that secular byproduct of urbanization. The accuracy of this statement is unquestioned because the urban enviro place where intellect is given a more significant place when compared to the rural environment where beliefs and religious beliefs are given that place. According to the researcher, in the present context, it is observed that the above stated Keywords: Secularization, Urbanization, Rise of Religiosity, Psychosocial Factors, Sri Lankan Context But it won’t rema in the same. Because as everything in the society, religion will also be subjected to and it will undergo many changes because of that. This transformation of religion can be clearly seen i context because it is considered to be the pinnacle of modernization. This paper is focused on the theoretical argument of the secularization hypothesis and how it did no reality as expected. It further focused on the psychosocial factors that were created with the moderniza became the causes of the fall of the secularization hypothesis and how modernization has affected the the Sri Lankan urban context.