11/07/2025 08:30
- 12:00
HALL: Senate Hall
Proponent:
Sztajer S.
Chair:
Sztajer S.
Speaker:
Berdowicz E.,
Darvish Aghajani J.,
Sztajer S.
Deconversion, the process of losing religious faith or beliefs associated with a particular religion, is increasingly prevalent in late modern societies characterized by pluralism, individualism, and fluid identity constructs. It is a multidimensional phenomenon that involves not only a departure from religion, but also a change in religious affiliation. This panel focuses on the diverse pathways and experiences of deconversion, highlighting the interplay between personal narratives, sociocultural contexts, and existential reflections. The dominant patterns of deconversion include not only abrupt and radical rejection of religious beliefs and practices, but also gradual departure from religious faith as well as the process of negotiation between different religious and non-religious identities. In each case deconversion is influenced by factors related to personalities, social networks, and cognitive and emotional processes. The study of conversion in late modernity should be situated in a broader cultural framework, including secularization, social acceleration, religious pluralism, privatization, and the rise of new forms of religiosity and spirituality. Religious scholars, sociologists, and psychologists interested in the dynamics and varieties of deconversion in the modern world are invited to participate in the panel.