DEPILLARIZATION, DECONFESSIONALIZATION, AND DEIDEOLOGIZATION - EMPIRICAL TRENDS IN DUTCH SOCIETY 1958-1992

Until the sixties a salient feature of Dutch society was its 'pillariz ation', the segmentation of society in religious and secular blocs and subcultures. Each bloc had set up a whole army of organizations encom passing practically every sphere of social life. In the last three dec ades a number of both structural and cultural developments set in a pr ocess of depillarization. Based on longitudinal Dutch survey data - co vering the 1958-1992 period - subjective identification with formerly pillarized ideologies is analyzed. It is found that identification has indeed diminished substantially, though primarily with religious ideo logies. This article primarily addresses the issue of whether deconfes sionalization or de-ideologization is the prime mover behind the decli ne of pillarized ideological identifications. It is found that in the first stages of depillarization deconfessionalization of Dutch society induced a process towards a decline of pillarized religious self-perc eptions, while identification with pillarized secular attitudes remain ed rather stable. In more recent years de-ideologization became more p rominent. Furthermore, it is observed that changes in ideological self -perceptions are particularly to be found among confessional groups wh o have become both smaller in number and less convinced of beliefs and behaviors traditionally linked with pillarized ideologies.