Transcendence and immanence as concepts have taken a new relevance in the context of converging processes of crisis of legitimacy, in both religious and political conceptions, linked with a growing individualism. The authors attempt to situate this growing interest, which crosses various fields of study, by examining the literature and by discussing the heuristic value of transcendence and immanence when placed in the current context of what they analyse as a transformation, rather than a withering away, of the relationship between collectivities and the sacred, whether on religious or political levels.
