controversial part of its theory concerns what he calls “meso-secularization,” by which he means the decline of the organizational level of religion, measured by several indicators, among them church attendance and donations to institutional religion. Dobbelaere argues that religious organizations and institutions are generally declining in the modern world, while his critics claim that this form of secularization is typical of Western Europe (and perhaps Canada and Australia/New Zealand) only, but not of the United States, nor of Latin America, Asia and Africa. Study of Soka Gakkai Dobbelaere was among the first Western scholars to publish sociological studies of the Japanese religious movement Soka Gakkai. In A Time to Chant, which he co-authored with British sociologist Bryan R. Wilson, he argued that Soka Gakkai had been successful in the United Kingdom by surrendering certain Japanese features and adapting to the European context.<ref>READER, Ian, “Bryan Wilson and Karel Dobbelaere, ‘A Time to Chant: The Soka Gakkai Buddhists in Britain’ (Book Review),” Japanese Journal of Religious Studies'’, vol. 22, 1995, 219-220.</ref> In his later book, Soka Gakkai: From Lay Movement to Religion'' (2001), Dobbelaere exploded the conflict and eventual separation between the lay leaders of Soka Gakkai and the monks of Nichiren Shoshu as an exemplary case of the tension that is generated when lay members seeking a religious support for their secular lives and priests whose main aim is perpetuating their hierarchical power work together. Dobbelaere also discussed how, after the separation from the monks, Soka Gakkai was reorganized with a different structure but eventually evolved into a full-fledged “religion” and continued with its successful missions abroad. Notes Belgian sociologists Sociologists of religion Researchers of new religious movements and cults 1933 births Living people People from Nieuwpoort, Belgium Academic staff of KU Leuven Members of Academia Europaea