TY - JOUR
T1 - Where public theology and public administration meet
T2 - Reflections on Jürgen Habermas' post-secular turn
AU - van Putten, R.J.
AU - Overeem, P.
AU - van Steden, R.
PY - 2019
Y1 - 2019
N2 - Since 9/11 Jürgen Habermas has paid considerable attention to religion in the public sphere. He has described contemporary Western societies as 'post-secular', arguing that believers and non-believers should show a mutually cooperative attitude and engage in complementary learning processes. Although public theologians have urged for policies that would encourage such collaboration, public administration scholars and practitioners seem to have completely neglected this call. In this article we inquire into the possibility of a 'post-secular public administration', which grants a more significant place to beneficial forms of religion in modern societies. By presenting a case study on Street Pastors in the British night-time economy we offer an example of both a post-secular religious contribution to the public sphere, as envisaged by Habermas, and a piece of post-secular empirical social science research. Finally, we critically assess Habermas' post-secular turn within the context of a cross-narrative between public theology and public administration.
AB - Since 9/11 Jürgen Habermas has paid considerable attention to religion in the public sphere. He has described contemporary Western societies as 'post-secular', arguing that believers and non-believers should show a mutually cooperative attitude and engage in complementary learning processes. Although public theologians have urged for policies that would encourage such collaboration, public administration scholars and practitioners seem to have completely neglected this call. In this article we inquire into the possibility of a 'post-secular public administration', which grants a more significant place to beneficial forms of religion in modern societies. By presenting a case study on Street Pastors in the British night-time economy we offer an example of both a post-secular religious contribution to the public sphere, as envisaged by Habermas, and a piece of post-secular empirical social science research. Finally, we critically assess Habermas' post-secular turn within the context of a cross-narrative between public theology and public administration.
KW - Jürgen Habermas
KW - Post-secular
KW - Public administration
KW - Public theology
KW - Street Pastors
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U2 - 10.1163/15697320-12341559
DO - 10.1163/15697320-12341559
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85065904272
VL - 13
SP - 5
EP - 24
JO - International Journal of Public Theology
JF - International Journal of Public Theology
SN - 1872-5171
IS - 1
ER -