The Center for the Sociology of Religion (CSR)

The Center for the Sociology of Religion (CSR) brings together researchers interested in the social dimensions of religion, its transformations, and the role it plays in modern societies. The Center’s aim is to develop and integrate research on religion in Poland and from a comparative perspective – especially in relation to other Central European countries and majority-Catholic countries. The Center will address classical topics in the sociology of religion, such as: institutional forms of religiosity, processes of secularization and desecularization, the relationship between religion and politics and national identity, as well as the social functions of religious communities and movements. A particular area of interest for the Center will be processes of mediatization of religion, understood as transformations in the ways religion is present in public and media spaces, including digital media, and their impact on religious practices, the authority of church institutions, and the shaping of societal perceptions of religion in society. The Center will conduct empirical and theoretical research on the significance of religion in social life, encompassing both the level of individual beliefs and practices, as well as the institutional forms of operation of churches and religious communities. The research will be interdisciplinary in nature, combining sociological, cultural studies, and media studies perspectives. CSR will serve as a platform for scholarly cooperation, knowledge and experience exchange, and the initiation of joint research projects.

The Center’s plans include organizing regular seminars and workshops devoted to contemporary transformations of religiosity (including with invited guests), presenting research results at national and international scholarly forums, as well as popularizing reliable knowledge about religion in contemporary society.

The Center will develop inter-university and international cooperation, particularly with research centers engaged in the sociology of religion, religious communication, and secularization studies.

The Center is established by: Prof. Sławomir Mandes and Dr. Marta Kołodziejska. Working with us are MA Anna Pazio and MA Marta Sobiech-Buzała. We also plan to collaborate with researchers from the Institute of Statistics of the Catholic Church and CBOS (Public Opinion Research Center).