Nuove forme del sacro? Presenti (e futuri?) : scenari sociali

Abstract

The aim of this short essay is to analyze the transformations of the social relationship

with the sacred – as it is considered by Émile Durkheim and the neo-durkheimian tradi-
tion – and some of its forms emerged in the postmodern society. The way this theoretical

sociological perspective underlines the central role played by the symbolic and cultural di-
mension of the society (the deep and the non-rational one) helps to reflect on the meanings

the new forms of spiritualities give to the experience of the “sacred things”. These last are
particularly referred to the Self. In this paper, I briefly discuss the “immanent” relationship
with the domain of the sacred even experienced in “traumatic situations” and its effects
on the social bonds (that is to say on the “moral” and “symbolic order”), trying to define
possible future scenarios.