Irreligiousness as a form of adaptation and resistance to institutional religion. A sociological study based on the example of Pomerania

Abstract

The article analyzes irreligiousness in Poland, a phenomenon long considered a derivative of religiosity rather than an autonomous social category. In the theoretical part, it proposes a departure from typological classifications in favor of a model-based understanding of irreligious orientations, interpreted through an analytical framework of adaptation and resistance. The empirical basis of the study is extensive quantitative research conducted in 2024 in two historically and culturally distinct regions: West Pomerania and Pomerania. Exploratory factor analysis reveals a two-dimensional structure of non-religiousness, comprising religious indifference and contestatory attitudes, which do not form a continuum nor can they be reduced to a “negative” dimension of religiosity. Socio-demographic patterns indicate that the configuration of non-religiousness differs significantly in these regions, testifying to the formative role of the historical and cultural contexts. The research results provide a basis for treating non-religiousness as an independent analytical category and a field requiring its own theoretical and methodological tools. Irreligion thus appears to be a complex, multi-layered worldview orientation, rooted in broader social changes and the ongoing process of redefining the meaning of religion in contemporary Poland.