Is the End of Religion Nigh?

In recent years, more and more commentators have questioned what used to be a given: that modernization and industrialization would inevitably lead to the decline of religion. They point instead to a resurgence of religion and the emergence of so-called ‘post-secular societies’. At the same time, though, people are identifying themselves as non-religious in increasing numbers, and are now the majority in the UK. So what is going on? Why does it seem like ‘God is back’ to some but quite the opposite to others?

This illuminating talk by Dr Lois Lee explains why the paradox is not as great as it seems, and provides a fascinating diagnoses of the prospects for religion.

Dr Lois Lee is Research Associate at the Institute of Advanced Studies, UCL, and founding director of the Nonreligion and Secularity Research Network (NSRN). She has written widely on non-religion, atheism and secularity, including journalism for the Guardian, New Scientist and elsewhere, as well as academic publications.
Her books include Recognizing the Non-religious: Reimagining the Secular (OUP, 2015), Secularity and Non-religion (Routledge, 2013) and Negotiating Religion: Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives (Routledge, forthcoming).