La città post-secolare. Il nuovo dibattito sulla secolarizzazione

The secularization debate went through a big change during the last fifty years. The shift has mainly to do with the de-construction of the secularization “theorem” (as Blumenberg called it). So, the new debate can be reliably described as being polarized between the “de-constructors” and the “re-constructors” of the theorem. This is the core idea underpinning a book (in Italian) on the (mainly philosophical) new secularization debate. The book consists of a long introduction where ‘secularization’ is analyzed as a deeply problematic concept-of-process and of eight chapters in which several exemplary figures in the recent (i.e. post-1960s) debate are analyzed in depth. They are: H. Blumenberg, D. Martin, C. Taylor, H. Joas, T. Asad, M. Gauchet, J. Habermas, G. Vattimo. The book’s conclusion is open, if not hesitant. For it is unclear whether the concept is still helpful to understand what is going on around us now and is in store for us in the near future.