Abstract
The aim of this paper is to reinterpret the so-called secularization theories and then to show the significance of continuous investigation for the question of "what is religion?" from the sociological viewpoint. The classical version of secularization theories implies a theoretical examination for the concept of religion with comparative analysis of religion in a conventional sense ("church-oriented religion") and in a non-conventional sense. However, these theories have an inadequate presupposition in which the concept of religion is treated as just an analytic instrument each sociologist can define before beginning a research project. In addition to this methodological issue, the worldwide "religious revival" after 1980s had sociologists recognize the "failure" of the secularization thesis, and unfortunately led to avoidance of a general theoretical approach to religion in the sociology of religion. Recent genealogical studies of the concept of religion criticize academic use of the concept of religion, but this criticism does not indicate the necessity to renounce it. Rather, the research program they require is a sociological study to examine the concept in its positional value within the global social order with a reflective perspective. This sociological critique of the concept of religion should make a unique contribution by examining not only social and historical restraints but also possible applications of the concept.
