Tenured Researchers

Research Topics

   The history of Romanian research in the field of sociology of religion, religion and social change, contemporary religious practices and beliefs, folk religion, religious practice and beliefs in relation with death, veneration of saints (relics, pilgrimages, icons, miracles), urban versus rural religiosity, religion in the public space, innovation and modernization in religious practices, secularisation, new religious movements and religious pluralism. Research topics are approached through an interdisciplinary perspective, with a complex methodology involving a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. The main sources of data issue from fieldwork research, interviews, questionnaires and a variety of public statistical databases and public documents, in addition to social documents.

Brief Description

   The Religion and Society research Laboratory, founded in 2015, is a continuation of the former Sociology of Religions research group. This group originated at the time of the creation of the Institute of Sociology in 1991. The Laboratory’s purpose is the restoration and elucidation of the principal theoretical and methodological contributions made prior to World War II, in relation to the creation of the field of sociology of religions in Romania. A second purpose of the Laboratory is the study of contemporary religious phenomenon in Romania from the perspective of individuals and communities involved in acts of faith. In this case, the research interests are mainly focused on folk religion or lived religion, more precisely, on the way social actors understand and experience religion in their everyday life. However central this focus, other aspects, including religious institutions and religious dogma are not disregarded.

Research Programs

• 2017-2019 - The religiosity of Romanians in the past and present. Sociological studies on the Romanian beliefs and religious practices