The idea
European positivist secularization is presented here as a rigid form that has gone beyond its limits by making exclusion its rule. The objection is not to the principle of organizing the public sphere, but to the way in which this organization has turned into the erasure of religion and the neglect of non-European cultures. The text therefore reads the European experience cautiously, not as a complete model that can be adopted as is.
Concise formulation
European positivist secularization: excessive
Its place in the book’s argument
This claim performs a critical function within the book’s overall argument. It prevents the reader from understanding secularization as a single, fully completed process, and places the European experience under historical and ethical scrutiny. Through this distinction, the text opens the door to asking about other possibilities of secularization that do not rest on the elimination of religious or cultural memory.
Why it matters
The importance of this statement lies in the fact that it prevents intellectual dependence on the European model when it is presented as the sole standard. It also reveals a fundamental aspect of Arkoun’s reading: a critique of modernity from within when it turns into exclusion. In this way, his understanding of secularization becomes more complex and closer to a search for cultural and epistemic justice.
Brief evidence
It criticizes excessive positivist secularization in Europe It criticizes excessive positivist secularization in Europe because it erased religion and non-
Reading questions
- What makes European secularization, in this text, excessive or extreme?
- How does this critique change the way we view the relationship between modernity and religion?
Degree of documentation
High: the claim appears in a clear location in the book’s material.