BharatNotes Secularisation
nounUsage in a UPSC answer
The constitutional model of Indian secularism — equal respect for all religions rather than strict separation of church and state — represents a contextualised response to Indian social reality rather than a wholesale adoption of European secularisation.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
secularisation (n), secularise (v), secular (adj), secularism (n), secularity (n)
Root
Latin saecularis = worldly/of an age (saeculum = generation/century/world) + -isation = process suffix
Etymology
From Latin saecularis; Max Weber theorised secularisation as the disenchantment of the modern world; M.N. Srinivas distinguished secularisation from Westernisation in Indian context; the Indian Constitution embodies a secularism that is not the privatisation of religion but its equal treatment by the state
Memory Hook
SECULAR + -ISATION: SECULAR = of this world, not the heavens; SECULARISATION = the world becoming more focused on THIS world than the next
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The process by which religion's authority over public institutions and everyday decisions declines. Keep it distinct from constitutional secularism: secularisation is a sociological process that may or may not occur, while secularism is a normative principle of State conduct. Indian evidence complicates the classical expectation, since modernisation has not produced a uniform retreat of religion from public life, and saying so is the stronger answer.
Don’t Confuse It With
Secularisation is a social process of declining religious authority. Secularism is a principle governing the State's relationship with religion. Atheism is personal disbelief. Communalism, in Indian usage, is the political mobilisation of religious identity, which can rise even as secularisation proceeds in other domains.
Hindi Meaning
धर्मनिरपेक्षीकरण (dharmanirpekshīkaran) for the process; धर्मनिरपेक्षता is secularism as a principle.
Common Questions
- What is secularisation?
- The process by which religion loses influence over public institutions and everyday social life.
- Is secularisation the same as secularism?
- No. Secularisation is a sociological process of declining religious authority. Secularism is a normative principle about how the State should relate to religion.
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