Les Formes Élémentaires de la vie religieuse: past, present and future¹

Abstract

In this article, the author discusses Durkheim's work on forms of religious life, by analyzing the historical context of its production, its current influence in the field of sociology of religion, and future perspectives in the face of current cultural trends in the global context. In the first part, dealing with the past, he discusses the complex cultural context of The Elementary Forms, as a complement to the methodological approach proposed by Roberto Alun Jones to the understanding of this work. In the second part, he explores the current position of The Elementary Forms in the field of sociology of religion, arguing that the work suffers from benign neglect among scholars. In the third part, it turns to the future, seeking to explore the potential of The Elementary Forms as a source of theorizing in the sociology of religion and perhaps as social thought tout court. Based on recent works by Christian Smith, he points out several lines of research that could rely on Durkheim's analyses and develop them for the current context.

Keywords:
Sociology of religion; Sociology of culture; Effervescence; Beliefs and rituals; Transcendence