Research

Secularization

Secularization research is one of my main fields of interest. I argue that one of the main causes of secularization is religious-secular competition, engaging religion in a “silent battle”. Secularization happens as the offer of secular goods is increased, crowding out the religious offer both because of functional superiority and time constraints. See for example:

Stolz, J. 2009. ‘Explaining Religiosity: Towards a Unified Theoretical Model’. British Journal of Sociology 60: 345-376.

Stolz, J., Könemann, J., Schneuwly Purdie, M., Englberger, T. and Krüggeler, M. 2016. (Un)Believing in modern society. Religion, spirituality, and religious-secular competition. London: Routledge.

Here’s a recent overview article on the state of secularization research that has appeared in Social Compass:

Stolz, Jörg. 2020. Secularization theories in the 21st century: Ideas, evidence, problems. Presidential Address. Social Compass, 67(2), 282-308.

Not everybody agreed and an interesting discussion resulted with François Gauthier, Tobias Müller, Sarah Wilkins-Laflamme, and David Voas. My response can be found here.

David Voas has suggested in excellent publications that secularization takes the form of a “secular transition”. In an article on Germany with Detlef Pollack and Nan Dirk de Graaf we have shown that the state can actually accelerate this transition:

Stolz, J., Pollack, D. and De Graaf , N.D. 2020. ‘Can the State accelerate the Secular Transitition? Secularization in East- and West Germany as a Natural Experiment’. European Sociological Review 36: 626-642.

In other publications, we have looked at the secular transition in France with Ferruccio Biolcati and Francesco Molteni. Recent results on Switzerland, from work with Jeremy Senn can be found here.

Religious revival

A paper co-authored with Alexi Gugushvili and Francesco Molteni seeks to explain the astounding religious revival in Georgia from 1985 onwards. It has appeared in BJS and can be found here. A recent paper co-authored with David Voas proposes a new typology of mechanisms that lead to religious revival in the context of long-term secularization. It can be found here.

Ethnicity

Together with Anaïd Lindemann, I have conducted work on islamophobia. Check out papers on explaining islamophobia, islamophobia in media discourses, the Muslim unemployment gap, or the perceived discrimination among Muslims

Evangelicals, Charismatics, Pentecostals, Fundamentalists

I have always been fascinated by evangelicals, pentecostals and fundamentalists. Most of my work on evangelicals has been done in collaboration with Olivier Favre, Caroline Gachet and Emmanuelle Buchard. Check out articles on the evangelical milieu, the evolution of Evangelicals, Pentecostals, and Fundamentalists, or the explanation of Pentecostal healings. Our book-length treatment of evangelicals in Switzerland is available in German and French.

Congregations

Inspired by the work of Mark Chaves, I have conducted a National Congregation studies in Switzerland together with Christophe Monnot. This research produces representative information on the local religious groups across all religions. Currently, the second wave is underway. One of the interesting questions to be solved before doing such a study is how to actually recognize a congregation.

This research has allowed us to shed light on female religious leadership, the relationship between established and newcomer religions, diversity of diversity, and political engagement of local religious groups in Switzerland.

Apart from showing basic facts about religion in Switzerland, NCS data has also allowed us to speak to more general theoretical debates. Thus, we have been able to show that - contra rational choice expectations - disestablishment does not lead to religious vitality:

Stolz, J. and Chaves, M. 2017. ‘Does Disestablishment Lead to Religious Vitality? The Case of Switzerland’. British Journal of Sociology 2: 412-435.

With Christoph Monnot, we have edited a book on “Congregations in Europe” where findings from various countries are assembled.

Mixed Methods

I believe that the combination of qualitative and quantitative methods has much to offer. I believe that explanatory/analytical sociology could benefit from mixed methods as explained here.

Together with various colleagues, I have conducted three large scale mixed methods studies on religion in Switzerland. On religiosity in Switzerland:

Stolz, J., Könemann, J., Schneuwly Purdie, M., Englberger, T. and Krüggeler, M. 2016. (Un)Believing in modern society. Religion, spirituality, and religious-secular competition. London: Routledge.

This book is available in English, French, and German.

On Evangelicals in Switzerland:

Stolz, J., Favre, O., Gachet, C. and Buchard, E. 2012. ‘Le phénomène évangélique. A l’intérieur d’un milieu compétitif’. Genève: Labor et Fides.

This book is also available in a German version.

On secularists in Switzerland:

Tanner, P. 2020. Das Freidenkertum in der Schweiz. Säkularismus in Zeiten der Säkularisierung. Thèse de doctorat. Lausanne: Université d Lausanne. This book will soon be published.

I also have published three articles on the Titanic example and mixed methods.

Mainline (Reformed) Churches

Work with Edmee Ballif resulted in a book on the Reformed Churches, available both in German and French.

Rational Choice, analytical sociology, and religion

Being a student of Raymond Boudon, I have always been interested in explanatory sociology. Several of my publications concern rational choice approaches and analytical sociology. Some articles concern the question of whether and how religions offer “salvation goods” and can be marketed and branded. Other articles are (friendly) critiques of rational choice approaches to religion. Some are less friendly, though, such as when I show with Mark Chaves that disestablishment does not lead to religious revival:

Stolz, J. and Chaves, M. 2017. ‘Does Disestablishment Lead to Religious Vitality? The Case of Switzerland’. British Journal of Sociology 2: 412-435.

A more historical companion paper can be found here.

With Jean-Claude Usunier, I have edited a book on religions as brands and there is a journal article on the topic here.

One of my theoretical ideas, probably inspired by my teacher Niklas Luhmann, is that the concept of the “social game” may be used to construct a general theory of the social world.

For now, a general outline and a paper on game heuristics is available.