Multiple Religious Identities -- EASR / IAHR Conference 2018, Bern -- Abstracts of keynote speakers (original) (raw)
Related papers
2017
As has been stated in many papers about postcommunist countries, the ”post-communist” label underlines historical similarities of many countries of Central, Eastern and Southern Europe but is quite unproductive in explaining current social processes and, moreover, developmental possibilities. This is true in particular for the role of religion in light of not only very different religious situations in different countries (measured by the usual sociological indicators of religiosity) but also different confessional traditions (Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy but also Islam and Protestantism to a certain extent), and differences in their church–state relations. Thus, the notion of diversity(-ies) more accurately describes the role of religion in post-communist countries than does the notion of similarity. Diversity, on the other hand, poses another problem, as it lacks an adequate theoretical frame for understanding trends in socio-religious development. Is there any theoretical ex...
2020
This series originated under the co-editorship of the late Ted Jelen and Mark J. Rozell. A generation ago, many social scientists regarded religion as an anachronism, whose social, economic, and political importance would inevitably wane and disappear in the face of the inexorable forces of modernity. Of course, nothing of the sort has occurred; indeed, the public role of religion is resurgent in US domestic politics, in other nations, and in the international arena. Today, religion is widely acknowledged to be a key variable in candidate nominations, platforms, and elections; it is recognized as a major influence on domestic and foreign policies. National religious movements as diverse as the Christian Right in the United States and the Taliban in Afghanistan are important factors in the internal politics of particular nations. Moreover, such transnational religious actors as Al-Qaida, Falun Gong, and the Vatican have had important effects on the politics and policies of nations around the world. Palgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policy serves a growing niche in the discipline of political science. This subfield has proliferated rapidly during the past two decades, and has generated an enormous amount of scholarly studies and journalistic coverage. Five years ago, the journal Politics and Religion was created; in addition, works relating to religion and politics have been the subject of many articles in more general academic journals. The number of books and monographs on religion and politics has increased tremendously. In the past, many social scientists dismissed religion as a key variable in politics and government. This series casts a broad net over the subfield, providing opportunities for scholars at all levels to publish their works with Palgrave. The series publishes monographs in all subfields of political science, including American Politics, Public Policy, Public Law, Comparative Politics, International Relations, and Political Theory. The principal focus of the series is the public role of religion. "Religion" is construed broadly to include public opinion, religious institutions, and the legal frameworks under which religious politics are practiced. The "dependent variable" in which we are interested is politics, defined broadly to include analyses of the public sources and consequences of religious belief and behavior. These would include matters of public policy, as well as variations in the practice of political life. We welcome a diverse range of methodological perspectives, provided that the approaches taken are intellectually rigorous. The series does not deal with works of theology, in that arguments about the validity or utility of religious beliefs are not a part of the series focus. Similarly, the authors of works about the private or personal consequences of religious belief and behavior, such as personal happiness, mental health, or family dysfunction, should seek other outlets for their writings. Although historical perspectives can often illuminate our understanding of modern political phenomena, our focus in the Religion, Politics, and Policy series is on the relationship between the sacred and the political in contemporary societies.
2014.Religion and social hidden.pdf
When religion is converted in an integral part of modern political debates, religious ideas influence the decisions and definitions of concepts such as education, the participation in the labor market, the structure and function of the family as a social unit, and the equality. Integration and immigration come to the forefront as the concept of citizenship acquires culturalist and moralizing dimensions. Finally, religion, politics and education begin to interfere in the areas of life that belong to the private and public spheres. From our pedagogical perspective we understand that the educational lines marked by religion influence remarkably the future of many citizens, and attach themselves to the socialpolitical realm. We thus become aware of the fact that religion as a powerful instrument of socialization exerts a strong influence upon citizens’ education and values, and presents itself as the – normally hidden – social curriculum of the context closer to many citizens. The presence of Islam and of Muslims in Europe, though not a new phenomenon, is questioned by the nation-states, confronting the official curriculum and the regulated education, with the social curriculum, strongly influenced by Islam among its followers. It therefore converts itself in an integral part of the struggle for individual and collective national identity, be it with respect to laity, to democracy or to citizenship. And, in this sense, we would like to present an up-to-date review of this question so present in Europe today.
Religions in the Modern World: Traditions and Transformations (Paperback) - Taylor & Francis
2001
The third edition of this comprehensive edited volume contains important chapters on the role of religions in the modern world. Framed on either end by detailed analyses of the phenomena known as modernity on the one hand, and secularism on the other, the book's structure in fact cleverly symbolises the common assumption that many Westerners have regarded the role of religion as 'compartmentalised' within the framework of modern secular states. This book demonstrates, quite impressively, that things are not so black and white. The introduction by two of the editors, Linda Woodhead and Christopher Patridge, defines key topics that are essential to understanding the engagement of religions with the modern world, including the topic of modernity, under which are addressed the subcategories of 'the nation state, ' 'colonialism, ' 'capitalism and rationalization, ' 'subjectivization and consumerism, ' 'secularism and secularization, ' to name a few (to these are added definitions pertaining to late modernity, such as 'globalization' and 'post-secularism' etc.). This volume can be described as interdisciplinary, since the more ancient religions addressed herein are, firstly, analysed on their own terms (their respective histories and theologies), and, secondly, addressed in regards to their relationship with modernity. In relation to contemporary religions, such as the New Age and New Religious Movements, the disparity between their pasts and modernity is not so evident since many of them are recent in origin. Thematic chapters include: 'Religion, globalization, and migration, ' 'Religion and politics, ' 'Religion and violence, ' 'Religion and gender, ' and 'Religion and popular culture, ' all of which are topics that are immediately relevant cross-culturally today. The second chapter on 'How to Study Religion, ' by Kim Knott, is particularly important since it sets-though in a very general way-the methodological 'tone' of the volume. It outlines the manner in which religion is studied as an academic discipline, including more traditional approaches such as the theological, textual, historical, and phenomenological ones that dominated in the past. New approaches, focusing "on the way in which class, gender, and power operate to reify certain traditions" (p. 24), as well as feminist and postcolonialist Book Reviews
2004
On 31 May, 1973, Professor Bohdan Bociprkiw of Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, delivered a London University lecture, entitled "Church-State relations in Communist Eastern Europe", at the London School of Economics and Political Science. In his introduction he observed that the position of organized religion in Eastern Europe had been fundamentally affected when communist political systems emerged in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, East Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Albania. For the first tim~ the churches were faced by regimes which aimed at eradicating religion from society. The churches, claiming that their internal autonomy was an essential part of religious freedom and that the dissemination of the faith was an intrinsic function of the church, could not but clash with the totalitarian aspirations of the East European regimes. Unlike the latter, which could refer to Marxist-Leninist doctrine and the Soviet model of church-state relations, the chur...
Religion and belief in Eastern Europe: Preface
2017
This special issue of the social research journal “Culture and Society” contributes to theoretical discussions about the role of religion in public sphere of contemporary societies and provides some new empirical insights. It particularly focuses on the region of Eastern Europe that has seen recent and most significant social, political and economic transformations. The official atheist doctrine of the socialist period was overcome between the years 1989 and 1991 (Gerlach & Topfer 2015). Such change interplayed with public life, while religion and belief found various and different roles in society, usually more apparent. This period enhanced the notion of ‘freedom of religion and belief’ (Gerlach & Topfer 2015). Nonetheless, contemporary societies in Eastern Europe experience a heterogeneous religious landscape. The population’s religious and belief identities grow diverse as we move on in the 21st century. The current makeup of the society also depicts new challenges and controver...