Religiosity in East Germany. Families as contexts of transmission, interruption and reconstitution

• Applicant: Dr. Hagen Findeis
• Subject Area: Protestant Theology ; Empirical Social Research
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 471617302

Against the backdrop of a serious decline of church related ties, the realm of family shall be scrutinised as the social sphere which is considered crucial for the transmission or loss of religiosity from one generation to the other. The overarching issue is, which family related factors will encourage or discourage people to follow religious norms and values. The project will focus on the complex interrelated effects that may occur in acquiring, sustaining, disappearing or restructuring of religious faith in a three-generation-setting. Therefore, mixed research methods will be applied, consisting of qualitative interviews with grandparents, parents, and children (each individually and cross-generational all together) as well as a photographic documentation. The leading questions are: How do religious socialization processes take place over several generations in families of different confessional structure and socio-economic status? To what extent is family as a space of social potential able to pass on religious traditions and experiences from one generation to the other and hence to facilitate social participation of the family members? In what ways does the passing on of religious tradi-tions in a society, being mainly estranged from both church and religion, impair the social integration of religious adherents? Hence, is the social substance of the religious tradition itself endangered? What strategies do families come up with to cope with cultural ambiguity or contradictory expectations in order to maintain their own religious identity? From the perspective of the younger generation the question is: Which processes may lead them to identify with the experiences and influences of the older generation, to modify them, or to reject them?Based on the assumption that structures of meaning are fundamental for religious socialization, the analysis begins by addressing the communicative negotiations about differences of cultural values between various family generations. The research will expand upon quantitative results on inter-generational transmission of religious faith. Eventually, this will lead into a discussion of whether the decline of church-affiliated religiosity indicates the loss of religion or its individualization. As the qualitative approach follows Grounded Theory Methodology, it seeks to establish representativeness on the conceptual, not the statistical level.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants