Secularisation in a global context | AQA A-Level Sociology
Updated: 5 days ago
For Specification 7192
AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 90 minutes
These Secularisation in a global context A-Level Sociology revision notes examine whether the decline of religion found in some societies can be treated as a worldwide process. You will compare religious change across different contexts, including evidence of declining participation in parts of Europe alongside continuing religious popularity elsewhere. You will also consider religious diversity, supply and demand, changing spirituality and globalisation. This develops secularisation [Secularisation] and leads directly into globalisation and the spread of religions [Globalisation and the spread of religions]. The specification explicitly requires the nature and extent of secularisation to be studied in a global context.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Explain why secularisation needs to be examined in a global rather than purely national context.
Compare patterns of religious decline, persistence and change between societies.
Explain why evidence from parts of Europe may not describe religion throughout the world.
Analyse arguments based on religious diversity, supply and demand and changing forms of religion.
Examine how globalisation may contribute to both religious decline and religious persistence.
Evaluate claims that secularisation is a global and universal process.
Revision Notes 📚
What does AQA require you to know?
AQA requires students to understand the significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world, including:
the nature and extent of secularisation in a global context
as well as:
globalisation and the spread of religions.
The lesson plan separates these into:
Secularisation in a global context [Secularisation in a global context]
Globalisation and the spread of religions [Globalisation and the spread of religions]
The distinction is useful.
This lesson asks:
Does secularisation occur everywhere, and does it occur in the same way?
The next lesson asks more broadly:
How does globalisation affect religion and contribute to the movement and transformation of religious beliefs and practices?
From national secularisation to global secularisation
In secularisation [Secularisation], the central concept was the declining importance of religion.
Evidence may concern:
religious belief;
participation;
affiliation;
organisations;
religious authority;
wider social significance.
A global approach adds another question:
Where is this decline occurring?
Evidence from one country cannot automatically establish a worldwide trend.
The basic methodological problem is:
evidence from Society A → conclusion about Society A
does not automatically justify:
evidence from Society A → conclusion about the whole world
This is one of the most important principles in this lesson.
Secularisation is not necessarily geographically uniform
AQA's 2020 examination gives the clearest starting point for this topic.
The item states that secularisation theory can explain declining religious participation across parts of Europe, but does not explain why religion remains popular in other parts of the world.
This establishes a crucial contrast:
parts of Europe → evidence of religious decline
while:
other parts of the world → continuing religious popularity
Therefore, a theory explaining secularisation in one regional context may be less successful as a universal theory.
The danger of generalising from Europe
If secularisation is particularly visible in parts of Europe, sociologists need to avoid assuming:
Europe represents the inevitable future of every society.
A global comparison asks whether:
similar patterns exist elsewhere;
the same causes operate elsewhere;
religion has the same relationship to modern social change everywhere.
AQA's 2020 item directly uses continuing religious popularity outside Europe as a challenge to claims that the extent of secularisation is universal.
This means an exam answer should distinguish:
evidence for secularisation
from:
evidence that secularisation is globally universal.
The first may be strong without the second necessarily being true.
Comparing patterns rather than searching for one global pattern
A global approach should therefore recognise several possible patterns.
Pattern 1: decline
Traditional religious participation or authority may become weaker.
Pattern 2: persistence
Religious belief or participation may remain significant.
Pattern 3: transformation
Traditional religion may decline while belief becomes more:
private;
spiritual;
individualised.
Pattern 4: renewed religious strength
Some forms of religion may become more significant in response to social or global change.
These possibilities mean that global religious change is not necessarily a single-direction process.
Parts of Europe and religious decline
AQA's 2020 item explicitly identifies declining religious participation across parts of Europe.
This supports secularisation theory where the measure is organised religious participation.
As studied in the previous lesson, possible explanations of religious decline recognised by AQA include:
rationalisation;
technological worldviews;
individualism;
structural differentiation;
privatisation;
religious diversity;
changing social values.
The global question is whether these processes have the same consequences everywhere.
A process may operate internationally without producing an identical religious outcome in every society.
Modern social change does not guarantee one religious result
One danger is assuming:
modernisation → secularisation everywhere
The AQA material does not support such a simple universal conclusion.
The 2020 question specifically challenges a theory that successfully explains decline in parts of Europe but fails to explain continuing religion elsewhere.
Therefore, a stronger sociological claim is:
Social changes associated with modern societies may contribute to secularisation in some contexts, but their religious effects need to be demonstrated rather than assumed globally.
The USA as a challenge to simple secularisation theory
AQA's 2020 mark scheme provides a specific comparative example.
It identifies high levels of religion in countries such as the USA as a reason why secularisation may have been exaggerated.
The importance of the USA in this material is comparative.
If:
social and economic change automatically produced secularisation;
and all modern societies followed the same path;
then continuing high levels of religion in a modern society would require explanation.
The USA therefore provides a challenge to the claim:
modernisation inevitably produces the same level of religious decline everywhere.
⚠️ AQA's supplied assessment material uses the USA as an example, but it does not provide statistical data for this comparison. Do not invent percentages or trends.
Why comparative examples matter
A country example should not simply be named.
Use it analytically:
secularisation is observed in parts of Europe → another modern society retains relatively high religiosity → modernity alone cannot automatically explain one universal outcome
The comparison is more important than the country name.
Supply and demand
The 2020 AQA mark scheme links high levels of religion in countries such as the USA with supply and demand and the diversity of beliefs and practices on offer.
This provides an alternative way of thinking about religiosity.
Rather than assuming that modern societies naturally lose religion, this interpretation focuses on what religious organisations and traditions offer.
The basic relationship can be represented as:
greater variety of religious beliefs and practices → greater potential choice → religious participation may remain significant
This provides an alternative to the secularisation argument.
Religious supply
Religious supply refers here to the religious beliefs, organisations and practices available to individuals.
Where there is greater diversity, individuals may have a greater chance of finding a form of religion compatible with their beliefs or preferences.
The reasoning is:
Societies contain a range of religious beliefs and organisations.
Individuals have greater choice.
Different religious options can appeal to different people.
Religion may remain popular despite wider social change.
This challenges the assumption that religious diversity must always weaken religion.
Religious demand
The demand side of the argument concerns continued interest in religious belief or participation.
If people continue to seek:
religious meaning;
community;
spiritual beliefs;
religious organisations;
then a diverse religious supply may help meet that demand.
Therefore:
modern society + religious diversity ≠ necessarily secularisation
Instead:
modern society + continued religious demand + diverse supply → potentially continuing religiosity
AQA's 2020 material treats this as one possible explanation for continuing religion outside the pattern of decline observed in parts of Europe.
Religious diversity: two competing interpretations
This is one of the most useful global secularisation debates.
Interpretation 1: diversity weakens religion
AQA's 2024 secularisation mark scheme recognises the argument that increasing religious diversity can produce a crisis of credibility.
A single sacred canopy may break down as individuals become exposed to competing belief systems.
The process is:
religious diversity → competing beliefs → reduced certainty → weakened credibility → secularisation
Interpretation 2: diversity sustains religion
The 2020 mark scheme supports the alternative that diversity of beliefs and practices may help explain high levels of religion, for example through supply and demand.
The process becomes:
religious diversity → greater choice → religious demand can be met → continued religiosity
These interpretations directly oppose one another.
Diversity may secularise | Diversity may sustain religion |
Competing truth claims reduce certainty | Choice gives individuals more religious options |
A single sacred canopy weakens | Diverse organisations may meet different demands |
Traditional belief becomes less plausible | Religion may remain attractive through variety |
Diversity produces a crisis of credibility | Diversity may contribute to high religiosity |
This is excellent evaluation because the same social condition produces two competing sociological explanations.
Limits of the supply and demand explanation
AQA's 2020 mark scheme explicitly identifies an evaluation:
religious diversity does not always lead to higher levels of religion.
Therefore, avoid writing:
“More religions automatically create more religious people.”
The supply argument provides one explanation, not a universal law.
The relationship may depend on:
social context;
existing religious commitment;
the religious organisations available;
wider social changes.
A balanced answer therefore says:
Diversity may sustain participation where it provides attractive religious choices, but diversity can also weaken the credibility of established beliefs.
Is secularisation theory too European?
The 2020 AQA item raises this question directly without using this exact phrase.
If a theory:
explains religious decline in parts of Europe;
but fails to explain continuing popularity elsewhere;
then its global applicability is limited.
The problem is one of generalisation.
A sociological explanation derived from one region may incorrectly treat that region's experience as the normal path all societies must eventually follow.
A strong evaluation asks:
Is this really a theory of global secularisation, or mainly an explanation of religious change in particular societies?
A theory can be locally useful without being globally universal
This is an important distinction.
Finding exceptions outside Europe does not establish that secularisation theory explains nothing.
It could still successfully explain:
declining traditional participation in particular societies;
weakening religious organisations;
reduced religious authority in particular social contexts.
What global variation challenges is the stronger claim that:
all societies inevitably follow the same secularising path.
Religion changing rather than declining
The second major criticism in AQA's 2020 item is that secularisation theory may fail to recognise religion changing rather than declining.
This issue matters globally as well as nationally.
Traditional organisational participation may decline while people continue to:
believe;
practise privately;
pursue spirituality;
interact with religion in new ways.
The 2020 mark scheme specifically uses belief without belonging and a shift towards a more spiritual focus as possible challenges to claims of extensive secularisation.
Belief without belonging
Belief without belonging refers to continuing religious belief despite weaker participation in traditional religious organisations.
The relationship is:
traditional religious participation declines
but:
belief continues
Therefore, apparent secularisation may partly reflect the indicator being used.
If secularisation is measured only through organisational participation:
decline may appear greater than decline in belief itself
This argument was developed in religion and religiosity in the contemporary world [Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world].
Spirituality and global religious change
AQA's 2020 mark scheme accepts the argument that religious belief may be changing towards a more spiritual focus.
This complicates global secularisation claims.
A decline in traditional organisations could coexist with:
continuing spirituality;
changing beliefs;
new forms of religious participation.
There are again two interpretations.
Interpretation 1: secularisation has been exaggerated
Spiritual belief remains significant, so traditional measures underestimate religion.
Interpretation 2: secularisation is still occurring
The movement away from collective religious authority towards private spirituality may itself show that traditional religion has lost social influence.
Therefore:
religious transformation and secularisation can occur at the same time.
Globalisation and secularisation
The specification places global secularisation alongside globalisation and the spread of religions, so the two topics inevitably connect.
AQA's 2024 examination describes globalisation as increasing worldwide interconnectedness through technological and cultural change.
The item identifies three different possible religious outcomes:
new types of beliefs emerging;
religious fundamentalism;
declining religious belief in some areas.
This is highly significant for global secularisation.
Globalisation does not produce one automatic religious outcome.
Globalisation may contribute to secularisation
AQA's 2021 marking material recognises the spread of Western non-religious worldviews as one possible influence contributing to secularisation.
The process could be:
greater global interconnectedness → wider exposure to non-religious worldviews → traditional religious beliefs challenged → possible secularisation
AQA's 2024 item similarly recognises declining religious belief in some areas as one possible result of globalisation.
The phrase “some areas” is important.
It does not claim a single worldwide outcome.
Globalisation may strengthen or transform religion
The same global processes may produce very different results.
AQA's 2024 item identifies:
new forms of belief;
fundamentalism;
as possible responses to globalisation.
Therefore:
globalisation → secularisation
is only one possible chain.
Others include:
globalisation → new forms of belief
or:
globalisation → stronger traditional or fundamentalist response
This shows why global secularisation cannot be assumed simply from increasing international interconnectedness.
Fundamentalism and claims of global secularisation
Religious fundamentalism appears repeatedly in AQA material concerning globalisation.
The 2024 item presents its growth as a possible result of globalisation.
This can challenge simple global secularisation theories because some groups may respond to rapid cultural change by strengthening religious commitments.
The broad process supported by AQA material is:
rapid global change or uncertainty → reaction against aspects of change → stronger emphasis on traditional religious values
This means modern global change may produce religious revival or intensification, rather than simply religious decline.
However, the existence of fundamentalism does not automatically disprove secularisation across every dimension of society.
A highly committed religious group could grow while traditional participation elsewhere declines.
Westernisation
AQA's 2024 globalisation mark scheme identifies westernisation among relevant concepts for the relationship between religion and globalisation.
The supplied source does not give enough detail to construct a separate theoretical model of westernisation.
The secure point is that global cultural change can involve the spread of ideas associated with Western societies and may therefore affect religious belief.
This connects with the 2021 AQA material recognising increasing Western non-religious worldviews as a possible contribution to secularisation.
Do not confuse globalisation with Westernisation
Globalisation is broader than the spread of one particular culture.
AQA's 2024 examiner report is especially useful here because it found that some students treated any recent social change as globalisation.
A globalisation explanation must involve some form of increased global interconnectedness, not merely a change that happened recently.
Migration, ethnicity and global secularisation
Global patterns also become more complicated when migration is considered.
AQA's 2022 material recognises several possible religious outcomes of migration and globalisation among minority ethnic groups:
cultural transition;
cultural defence;
return to traditional beliefs;
apostasy;
social solidarity;
influence from global religious change.
This is valuable evidence against any single global trend.
Cultural defence may strengthen religion
Cultural defence can occur where groups use religion to preserve identity in a changing or hostile environment.
The process is:
global migration → minority identity challenged → religion provides cultural defence → religious commitment may strengthen
This can slow or reverse secularising tendencies for particular groups.
Apostasy may weaken religion
AQA also recognises apostasy, the renouncing of religious faith.
The alternative process is:
migration/global cultural exposure → adaptation to new environment → previous religious commitment weakens → apostasy
So migration can potentially:
strengthen religion;
alter religion;
weaken religion.
Once again, there is no single global outcome.
Global variation between social groups
Global comparisons should also avoid treating whole countries as internally uniform.
As examined in social groups and religion [Social groups and religion], AQA material recognises religious differences connected with:
ethnicity;
age;
gender;
social class;
urban populations.
Therefore, statements such as:
“Country X is secular”
can conceal variation within that society.
A more sophisticated analysis asks:
Which groups are secularising?
Which groups retain religion?
Which forms of religion are declining?
Which forms may be growing or changing?
Global secularisation is therefore a problem of variation both between and within societies.
Religious marketplaces
AQA's 2024 mark scheme includes the concept of a religious marketplace when evaluating religion and globalisation.
The general source-supported idea is:
different religious beliefs and organisations are available → individuals encounter greater religious choice → religiosity need not automatically decline
This is particularly relevant when comparing societies in which a greater variety of religions or religious organisations is available.
Re-enchantment and re-sacralisation
The 2024 AQA mark scheme also lists:
re-enchantment;
re-sacralisation
as concepts relevant to religion and globalisation.
These terms clearly indicate that AQA recognises arguments concerning renewed or continuing religious significance within global religious change.
For this lesson, it is sufficient to recognise that AQA accepts alternatives to the claim that global change must inevitably produce secularisation.
Modernity and postmodernity
AQA's 2024 globalisation mark scheme also identifies:
modernity;
postmodernity;
New Age movements;
spirituality;
consumption;
belief without belonging.
The secure comparison established across the supplied AQA materials is:
traditional organised religion may decline
while:
new, individualised or spiritual forms may emerge
This supports the interpretation of religious transformation.
However, it may simultaneously support secularisation if traditional religious organisations and collective authority become less significant.
Again, the outcome depends on which dimension of religion is being measured.
Comparing religious change globally
A useful way to revise this lesson is to compare types of change rather than memorise a single world trend.
Pattern | What it may involve | Implication for secularisation |
Traditional decline | Reduced participation in established religion | Supports secularisation |
Continuing high religiosity | Strong religious participation despite social change | Challenges universal secularisation |
Belief without belonging | Belief survives despite declining institutional membership | May mean secularisation is exaggerated |
Individualised spirituality | Religion becomes more personal and spiritual | May represent transformation and/or weakened traditional authority |
Religious diversity | More religions and worldviews available | May weaken credibility or increase religious choice |
Fundamentalism | Renewed emphasis on traditional religious values | Challenges a simple model of inevitable decline |
Cultural defence | Religion strengthens group identity under global change | May slow secularisation for particular groups |
Apostasy | Religious commitment is abandoned | Supports religious decline among some individuals |
Does modernisation cause secularisation globally?
A simple argument might be:
modernisation → rationalisation → secularisation
This can explain religious change in some settings.
AQA's 2024 material supports connections between social change, rationalisation and religious decline.
However, the 2020 item makes clear that continued popularity of religion elsewhere limits the claim that this is a universal outcome.
Therefore, one of the strongest evaluations is:
A process can contribute to secularisation without being sufficient to produce secularisation everywhere.
Modern social change may interact with different:
religious traditions;
organisations;
social groups;
patterns of religious supply;
cultural contexts.
Can Europe be treated as the exception?
The supplied AQA sources establish that parts of Europe show religious decline and other areas maintain considerable religiosity, but they do not establish that Europe should simply be labelled the global exception.
For examination purposes, the safer conclusion is:
Global variation challenges attempts to treat the religious experience of any one region as a universal model.
This keeps the answer within what the AQA material actually supports.
Is continuing religion proof that secularisation is false?
Not necessarily.
Remember the definition:
secularisation = declining importance of religion
not:
complete disappearance of religion.
A society could experience secularisation while:
substantial numbers remain religious;
some religious organisations grow;
religious minorities remain highly committed;
spiritual movements develop.
The question is about change in significance, not whether religion exists at all.
This is particularly important when comparing countries.
A country does not need to become completely non-religious for secularisation to have occurred.
Is the global secularisation debate really about measurement?
Partly.
AQA's 2022 examination highlights problems defining and measuring religious belief and practice, including Western bias and belief without belonging.
This has major implications for global comparisons.
If researchers use a measure developed around:
formal institutions;
traditional religious membership;
visible attendance;
it may capture religion differently in different societies or traditions.
Therefore:
definition of religion → method of measurement → comparison between societies → judgement about secularisation
This is why religion and religiosity in the contemporary world [Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world] is essential preparation for this lesson.
Western bias and global comparisons
AQA explicitly accepts Western bias as a concept when evaluating definitions and measurements of religion.
A measure based on assumptions drawn from Western forms of organised religion may not capture every religious tradition equally well.
This creates a potential problem:
Western definition → measurement applied globally → some forms of religiosity missed → misleading global comparison
This is one reason to be cautious about declaring that the whole world is becoming more or less religious on the basis of one measurement approach.
Globalisation can push religion in opposite directions
This is perhaps the central bridge between Lessons 12 and 13.
AQA material supports several relationships:
Towards secularisation
globalisation → exposure to non-religious worldviews → religious decline in some areas
Towards religious diversity
globalisation → new forms of belief and greater choice
Towards stronger religion
globalisation → uncertainty or perceived cultural threat → fundamentalism or cultural defence
Towards changing religion
globalisation → technological and cultural change → different ways of interacting with religious organisations
Therefore:
Globalisation does not have one inevitable effect on religiosity.
This is developed fully in globalisation and the spread of religions [Globalisation and the spread of religions].
Evaluating claims of global secularisation
There are several strong lines of evaluation.
Evaluation 1: Global variation
Secularisation theory can explain religious decline in parts of Europe.
However, continuing popularity of religion elsewhere shows that decline is not uniform.
Judgement: strong evidence of secularisation in one region is not automatically evidence of universal secularisation.
Evaluation 2: Modernity does not produce one outcome
Modern social change may contribute to rationalisation, individualism and religious decline.
However, modern societies can display different levels and forms of religiosity.
Judgement: modernisation may influence religion without determining one inevitable outcome.
Evaluation 3: Religious diversity has opposing effects
Diversity may create a crisis of credibility.
However, diversity may also increase religious supply and choice.
Judgement: the effect of pluralism depends on social context.
Evaluation 4: Religion may change rather than disappear
Belief without belonging and spirituality can survive declining traditional participation.
Judgement: institutional secularisation may be greater than decline in personal belief.
Evaluation 5: Globalisation has contradictory consequences
It can spread secular worldviews but can also produce new beliefs, cultural defence and fundamentalist responses.
Judgement: global interconnectedness is not the same as global secularisation.
Evaluation 6: Measurement may contain cultural bias
The way religion is defined and measured can affect global comparisons.
Judgement: claims about global decline should compare equivalent dimensions of religiosity rather than assuming one indicator works everywhere.
Comparing universal and contextual explanations
Universal secularisation claim | Contextual interpretation |
Modern social change ultimately weakens religion | Social change can have different religious consequences |
Religious diversity reduces belief | Diversity can also increase religious choice |
Declining traditional participation indicates religious decline | Belief or spirituality may continue in different forms |
Modern societies should follow a similar path | Modern societies can display different patterns of religiosity |
Globalisation spreads secularisation | Globalisation can also strengthen or transform religion |
National evidence can indicate a wider trajectory | Comparisons must account for regional and social variation |
The second column does not prove secularisation is false.
It shows why claims of global uniformity need evaluation.
A balanced sociological judgement
The strongest position supported by the AQA materials is neither:
“The world is inevitably secularising.”
nor:
“Secularisation does not exist because religion remains popular somewhere.”
The evidence supports a more nuanced judgement.
There is evidence that:
traditional religious participation has declined in parts of Europe;
rationalisation and other social changes may contribute to religious decline;
Western non-religious worldviews can spread through globalisation.
However, there is also evidence or sociological argument that:
religion remains popular in other contexts;
diverse religious supply may sustain participation;
belief can continue without traditional belonging;
spirituality may replace some traditional forms;
globalisation may generate fundamentalism or new beliefs;
cultural defence can strengthen religion for some groups.
The most defensible conclusion is therefore:
Secularisation is not demonstrated as a single uniform global process. Religious decline occurs in some contexts, while persistence, revival and transformation occur in others. Claims about global secularisation must therefore specify which society, social group and dimension of religion they are describing.
How to answer a global secularisation question
A strong answer should make comparison central from the beginning.
Step 1: Identify the secularisation claim
For example:
Modernisation causes religion to decline.
Step 2: Apply it to one context
For example:
declining religious participation in parts of Europe
Step 3: introduce a contrasting context or pattern
For example:
continuing high religiosity elsewhere
Step 4: explain why the comparison matters
Does it suggest:
different religious supply?
different patterns of belief?
religion changing rather than disappearing?
different effects of globalisation?
Step 5: reach a conditional judgement
For example:
“This suggests secularisation may explain particular regional patterns without establishing a universal trajectory.”
That final comparison is what makes the answer genuinely global rather than simply another essay on secularisation.
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Secularisation | The declining importance of religion. | Establish what must actually be shown before claiming global secularisation. |
Global context | Comparing religious change across different societies and regions rather than studying one country alone. | Avoid generalising from one national example. |
Religious diversity | The existence of different religious beliefs, practices and organisations within society. | Evaluate whether diversity weakens credibility or increases religious choice. |
Religious supply | The range of religious beliefs, practices and organisations available. | Explain the AQA-supported supply and demand interpretation of continuing religiosity. |
Belief without belonging | Continuing religious belief without regular participation in traditional religious organisations. | Challenge claims based only on declining attendance. |
Spirituality | Spiritual belief that may exist outside traditional religious organisations. | Explain how religion may change rather than disappear. |
Cultural defence | Religion being used to maintain identity and solidarity when a group faces change or hostility. | Explain how global migration may strengthen religion for some groups. |
Fundamentalism | A strong religious response that may emphasise traditional values in reaction to wider change. | Challenge the idea that globalisation inevitably produces secularisation. |
Western bias | The problem of using assumptions derived from Western religion to understand religion more generally. | Evaluate global definitions and measures of religiosity. |
Religious marketplace | An AQA-recognised concept connected with religious choice and diversity. | Link cautiously to supply, demand and continuing religious participation. |
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
AQA's 2024 report is particularly useful because students had to evaluate the relationship between religion and globalisation.
Examiner hint: Do not assume that every recent social change is globalisation. The 2024 examiner report specifically identified this as a problem.
A globalisation point needs genuine international interconnectedness.
For example:
Weak: “People are less religious now, and this is globalisation.”
Stronger: “Increased global access to non-religious worldviews may expose individuals to alternatives to traditional religious beliefs, contributing to secularisation in some contexts.”
Examiner hint: AQA reported limited understanding of the relationship between religion and globalisation in many 2024 answers. Strong answers need to explain the relationship rather than write separate accounts of religion and globalisation.
Use a chain:
global process → religious mechanism → effect on belief/practice → secularisation or religious persistence
Examiner hint: Some 2024 students relied heavily on repeating the item with little development. The item is a starting point, not a complete answer.
For example, if the item says globalisation has led to declining belief in some areas, add the sociological explanation for how and why this might occur.
Examiner hint: The 2022 report also shows the importance of maintaining the exact social or geographical focus of a question. Students discussing globalisation often drifted into general points rather than applying them to the group specified.
The same rule applies here. If a question asks about global patterns, do not write an answer entirely about the UK.
Examiner hint: Where a question asks whether secularisation has been exaggerated, use genuine alternatives. AQA's 2020 marking guidance rewards developed contrasts such as continuing religiosity through religious supply and diversity, or changing practice through belief without belonging.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Assuming secularisation in Britain or Europe proves global secularisation
Why this is incorrect: AQA's 2020 item explicitly contrasts declining participation in parts of Europe with continuing religious popularity elsewhere.
How to improve:
Always ask whether the evidence applies:
nationally;
regionally;
globally.
Mistake: Treating all modern societies as religiously identical
Why this is incorrect: AQA uses continuing religiosity in countries such as the USA to challenge a uniform model.
How to improve: Distinguish modernisation from its possible religious consequences.
Mistake: Saying religious diversity always causes secularisation
Why this is incorrect: AQA also recognises supply and demand arguments in which diversity may sustain high levels of religion.
How to improve: Evaluate:
crisis of credibility
against:
greater religious choice.
Mistake: Saying diversity always increases religion
Why this is incorrect: The 2020 mark scheme explicitly recognises that religious diversity does not always produce higher religiosity.
How to improve: Use qualified language such as:
“A diverse religious supply may sustain participation in some contexts.”
Mistake: Treating religion's continued existence as proof against secularisation
Why this is incorrect: Secularisation means declining importance, not the complete disappearance of religion.
How to improve:
Examine change in:
belief;
practice;
authority;
organisation;
social significance.
Mistake: Treating declining attendance as the same as declining belief
Why this is incorrect: Belief without belonging suggests that belief may survive declining institutional participation.
How to improve: Specify which dimension of religion your evidence measures.
Mistake: Assuming globalisation automatically makes societies secular
Why this is incorrect: AQA's 2024 item recognises secularisation, new beliefs and fundamentalism as different possible outcomes of globalisation.
How to improve: Explain why globalisation may have contradictory religious consequences.
Mistake: Calling every modern social change globalisation
Why this is incorrect: This was specifically criticised in the 2024 examiner report.
How to improve: Your point should involve increased interconnectedness between societies.
Mistake: Using Western measures of religion without questioning them
Why this is incorrect: AQA recognises Western bias as a problem when defining and measuring religion.
How to improve: Ask whether the same indicator captures equivalent forms of religiosity in different religious and cultural settings.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Questions
1. Define the term secularisation.[2 marks]
2. Explain one reason why evidence of secularisation in one society may not demonstrate global secularisation.[4 marks]
3. Explain one way in which religious diversity may reduce secularisation.[4 marks]
4. Outline and explain two reasons why patterns of secularisation may differ between societies.[10 marks]
5. Read Item A and answer the question that follows.
Item A
Traditional religious participation has declined in one group of societies. In another modern society, religious organisations continue to attract substantial participation and individuals have access to a wide variety of religious beliefs and practices.
Patterns of religious change may differ between societies.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two reasons why modern societies may experience different levels of secularisation.[10 marks]
6. Read Item B and answer the question that follows.
Item B
Global cultural and technological connections expose individuals to secular worldviews and alternative beliefs. However, the same changes may encourage some groups to strengthen religious identity or return to traditional religious values.
Applying material from Item B, analyse two ways in which globalisation may have different effects on secularisation.[10 marks]
7. Read Item C and answer the question that follows.
Item C
Sociologists comparing religion internationally face difficulties because religious belief and practice take different forms. Measures based on participation in traditional organisations may not capture private belief or spirituality equally well in every society.
Applying material from Item C, analyse two problems sociologists may face when comparing secularisation globally.[10 marks]
8. Read Item D and answer the question that follows.
Item D
Some sociologists argue that modernisation and rationalisation will eventually reduce the importance of religion throughout the world. However, religion remains significant in many societies, while religious diversity may create greater choice and new forms of belief.
Applying material from Item D and your knowledge, evaluate the view that secularisation is an inevitable global process.[20 marks]
9. Read Item E and answer the question that follows.
Item E
Declining participation in traditional religion may indicate secularisation. However, belief may continue privately or become more spiritual, and global change may strengthen religion for some groups while weakening it for others.
Applying material from Item E and your knowledge, evaluate the view that global evidence supports the claim that religion is declining rather than changing.[20 marks]
Answers and mark scheme
Question 1
Secularisation is the declining importance of religion.
For full credit, the answer should refer to decline in the importance or significance of religion rather than its total disappearance.
Question 2
A possible answer:
Evidence from one society may not demonstrate global secularisation because religious change varies between societies. AQA material identifies declining participation in parts of Europe while religion remains popular elsewhere. A pattern found in one region therefore cannot automatically be generalised to the whole world.
The chain is:
regional evidence → regional conclusion → global generalisation not established
Question 3
A possible answer:
Religious diversity may reduce secularisation because individuals have access to a wider supply of religious beliefs and practices. Different religious organisations may meet different demands, allowing religion to remain attractive to a wider range of people.
The analytical chain is:
greater religious supply → greater choice → religious demand met → continuing participation
A strong answer may recognise that diversity can alternatively weaken credibility.
Question 4
Two developed explanations are required.
Possible material includes:
Religious supply and diversity: Societies with a greater variety of religious beliefs and organisations may provide individuals with more opportunities to find forms of religion that appeal to them. This may sustain religiosity.
Religion changing rather than declining: Traditional participation may decline more strongly than private belief or spirituality, producing different apparent levels of secularisation depending on what is measured.
Other valid routes include:
different effects of rationalisation;
fundamentalist responses;
cultural defence;
spread of secular worldviews;
differences in religious organisations and practices.
Each explanation should make clear why societies may show different patterns.
Question 5
Two item-based explanations are required.
First reason: religious supply and diversity
Use the reference to “a wide variety of religious beliefs and practices”.
A greater religious supply may give individuals more choice, enabling religious organisations to appeal to different beliefs or preferences. This may help maintain participation in one modern society even where another experiences decline.
Second reason: modernisation does not produce one automatic outcome
Use the contrast between different modern societies.
If both have experienced substantial social change but show different levels of religious participation, social change alone cannot automatically produce identical secularisation.
A strong answer should explain the comparison, rather than simply describe each society separately.
Question 6
Two contrasting effects can be developed.
First way: secularisation
Use the reference to secular worldviews.
Greater global interconnectedness may expose individuals to non-religious beliefs and alternative explanations, challenging traditional religious authority and contributing to secularisation.
Second way: stronger religious commitment
Use the reference to strengthened identity or traditional values.
Some groups may respond to rapid global change through cultural defence or fundamentalist beliefs, strengthening rather than weakening religious commitment.
The comparison is:
globalisation → greater secular exposure → religious decline
versus:
globalisation → perceived uncertainty or threat → religious strengthening
Question 7
Possible problems include:
Different forms of religiosity
Use the reference to private belief and spirituality. Attendance measures may record institutional decline but miss belief without belonging or individual spirituality.
Western bias
A definition or measure based on traditional Western religious organisations may not capture religious beliefs and practices equally well across different cultural or religious contexts.
The analytical chain is:
measurement developed in one context → applied elsewhere → different religious forms may be missed → international comparison becomes unreliable
Strong answers should focus on the problem of global comparison, not merely list measurement problems.
Question 8
Indicative content may include:
Arguments supporting global secularisation:
secularisation as declining religious importance;
rationalisation;
scientific and technological worldviews;
individualism;
structural differentiation;
privatisation;
spread of non-religious worldviews through globalisation;
religious diversity potentially creating a crisis of credibility;
declining participation in parts of Europe.
Arguments challenging inevitability:
continuing popularity of religion outside parts of Europe;
high religiosity in countries such as the USA in AQA material;
supply and demand;
religious diversity providing greater choice;
belief without belonging;
spirituality;
New Age movements;
fundamentalism;
cultural defence;
different effects of globalisation;
variation between social groups;
problems of Western bias and measurement.
Evaluation should consider:
whether modernisation always has identical religious consequences;
whether evidence from Europe can be generalised;
whether private belief should count as evidence against secularisation;
whether diversity weakens or strengthens religion;
which dimension of religion is declining;
whether religious persistence in some contexts disproves decline elsewhere.
A strong judgement would argue that the word “inevitable” is difficult to defend. AQA material clearly supports secularisation in some contexts and provides several sociological mechanisms that can cause religious decline. However, global variation, continuing religiosity, religious supply and changing forms of belief show that modern societies do not follow a single religious trajectory. Secularisation is therefore better understood as context-dependent and uneven rather than globally inevitable.
Question 9
Indicative content may include:
Evidence of decline:
declining traditional participation;
rationalisation;
technological worldviews;
structural differentiation;
privatisation;
individualism;
secular worldviews spreading globally;
declining religious belief in some areas.
Evidence of transformation or persistence:
belief without belonging;
spirituality;
changing religious practice;
religious diversity;
supply and demand;
new beliefs emerging through globalisation;
religious fundamentalism;
cultural defence;
differences between Europe and other contexts;
continuing religion among particular groups.
Evaluation:
decline and change are not mutually exclusive;
traditional institutional religion may decline while private belief persists;
continued religion does not mean no secularisation has occurred;
globalisation can weaken, transform or strengthen religion;
measurement choices affect conclusions;
global averages can conceal national and social-group differences.
A strong conclusion should avoid choosing decline or change as if only one can occur.
The most convincing interpretation is that global religious change contains both processes. Traditional religious participation and authority can decline in some settings while religion becomes more private, diverse or spiritual elsewhere, and some groups may strengthen religious commitment in response to global change. The evidence therefore does not support a single uniform worldwide movement from religion to non-religion.
Comments