Secularization
In sociology, secularization or secularisation is a transformation of a society fromidentification with religious values & institutions toward non-religious values as well as secular institutions. The secularization thesis expresses the view that as societies progress, especially through modernization, rationalization, and advances in science and technology, religious command diminishes in all aspects of social life and governance. In recent years, the secularization thesis has been challenged due to some global studies indicating that the irreligious population of the world may be in decline as a percentage of the world population due to irreligious countries having subreplacement fertility rates and religious countries having higher birth rates in general. Christian sociologist Peter L. Berger coined the term desecularization to describe this phenomenon. In addition, secularization rates are stalling or reversing in some countries/regions such as the countries in the former Soviet Union or large cities in the Western World with significant amounts of religious immigrants.
As ameaning, the term "secularization" may also arise in the context of the lifting of monastic restrictions from a portion of the clergy.