Religion and Society Research Cluster

Religion and Society Research Non-religion and Secularity Stream

Current Projects

Non-religion and Secularity Stream

Non-religion, secular and atheist views have seen large growth in recent years, especially in the Anglophone West, but increasingly across the globe. For example Australia's non-religious population rose from 18.7% in the 2006 census to 22.3% in 2011 census data. The period has also seen a rise in non-religious and atheist political activities throughout the world, particularly in online spaces. This stream will investigate the lives and interactions of the non-religious, secular and atheist groups and their intersection with religion, culture and law. It will include research on activism of non-religious groups, non-religious identity formation, diversity in non-religion, legal and political issues involving the non-religious, and the impact of secularisation and post-secular perspectives on the group and society. It aims to understand the lives and impacts of the non-religious and secular segments of contemporary society.

Current projects within this stream include:

Articles, Chapters and books by Postdoc Dr Alan Nixon on atheism, the New Atheism and Non-religion:

"Atheism" in Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory (Forthcoming)
"Going with the Flow: Indigenous Non-religion, Not Atheism" in Religion and Non-religion among Australian Aboriginal Peoples
"Australia: Conflict, Not Competition" in The Atheist Bus Campaign: Global Manifestations and Responses
"Techno-Shamanism and the Economy of Ecstasy" in Pop Pagans
"Contemporary Atheism as Hyper-Real Irreligion: The Enchantment of Science and Atheism in this Cosmos" in The Handbook of Hyper-real Religions

A doctoral project by Rhys Gower entitled "Exploring Trajectories of Active Atheist Identity Formation within Australia" with supervisor: Alphia Possamai-Inesedy and Co-Supervisors: Cristina Rocha and Alan Nixon

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