‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965

This essay argues that essentialist models of modernity are always ideological, and that Britain’s dominant ideology of modernity was transformed from the mid-1950s, with revolutionary consequences for British Christianity and secularisation. Before the mid-1950s Britain's predominant 'civ...

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Main Author: Brewitt-Taylor, S
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Taylor and Francis 2020
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author Brewitt-Taylor, S
author_facet Brewitt-Taylor, S
author_sort Brewitt-Taylor, S
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description This essay argues that essentialist models of modernity are always ideological, and that Britain’s dominant ideology of modernity was transformed from the mid-1950s, with revolutionary consequences for British Christianity and secularisation. Before the mid-1950s Britain's predominant 'civilisation' ideology portrayed Christianity as more advanced than secularity. The mid-1950s global crisis, however, created widespread belief in a radical break between 'tradition' and 'the modern world'. This perception rapidly legitimated the further belief, promoted by radical Christians, that ‘the modern world’ is inherently ‘secular’. Once accepted by the national media, the ideological belief that modernity is secular made possible the 1960s ‘secular revolution’.
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spelling oxford-uuid:97d7f880-afc4-4e77-a5a6-15eda3db32402022-05-30T09:13:30Z‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:97d7f880-afc4-4e77-a5a6-15eda3db3240EnglishSymplectic ElementsTaylor and Francis2020Brewitt-Taylor, SThis essay argues that essentialist models of modernity are always ideological, and that Britain’s dominant ideology of modernity was transformed from the mid-1950s, with revolutionary consequences for British Christianity and secularisation. Before the mid-1950s Britain's predominant 'civilisation' ideology portrayed Christianity as more advanced than secularity. The mid-1950s global crisis, however, created widespread belief in a radical break between 'tradition' and 'the modern world'. This perception rapidly legitimated the further belief, promoted by radical Christians, that ‘the modern world’ is inherently ‘secular’. Once accepted by the national media, the ideological belief that modernity is secular made possible the 1960s ‘secular revolution’.
spellingShingle Brewitt-Taylor, S
‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965
title ‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965
title_full ‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965
title_fullStr ‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965
title_full_unstemmed ‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965
title_short ‘Christian civilisation’, ‘modern secularisation’, and the revolutionary re-imagination of British modernity, 1954-1965
title_sort christian civilisation modern secularisation and the revolutionary re imagination of british modernity 1954 1965
work_keys_str_mv AT brewitttaylors christiancivilisationmodernsecularisationandtherevolutionaryreimaginationofbritishmodernity19541965