Religion and European Society

Religion and European Society PDF

Author: Ben Schewel

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2019-04-17

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 1119162831

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

A contemporary examination of the role of religion in the European public sphere and beyond Although the role of religion has arguably declined in the societies of Western and Northern Europe, religious participation in other parts of the continent and among growing immigrant communities remains an important aspect of daily life. Recent years have seen a resurgence of religion in the public sphere, prompting many researchers to view European secularism as an outlier in this global trend. Religion and European Society: A Primer presents recent academic literature that explores key developments and current debates in the field, covering topics such as changing patterns of belief, religion across the political spectrum, and development and humanitarian aid. Articles written by leading scholars draw from well-established findings to help readers contemplate the role of religion in public life, understand the assumptions and underpinnings of the secular worldview, and develop new ways of thinking about global issues relevant to contemporary global affairs. Each theme is addressed by several articles to provide readers with diverse, sometimes competing perspectives. This volume offers concepts and ideas that can be used in various policy, practitioner, and academic settings—clarifying overarching concepts and trends rather than analyzing specific policy issues that can quickly become outdated. Addresses issues of contemporary importance such as demographic changes in religious observance, increased immigration, the emergence of new religious movements, and changes in more established religions Explores the ethical and philosophical concepts as well as the practical, everyday consequences of European post-secularism Challenges widespread assumptions about the secular nature of the modern public sphere Offers analytical tools as well as practical policy recommendations on a range of issues including media, regulation, gender, conflict and peacebuilding, immigration and humanitarianism. Designed to move research findings from academic journals to the realm of public discourse, Religion and European Society: A Primer is a valuable source of information for practitioners within and outside of Europe of religious studies, politics, and international affairs.

Religion in Modern Europe

Religion in Modern Europe PDF

Author: Grace Davie

Publisher: OUP Oxford

Published: 2000-08-03

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 0191584185

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Religion in Modern Europe examines religion as a form of collective memory. This is a memory held in place by Europe's institutional churches, educational systems, and the mass media - all of which are themselves responding to rapid social and economic change. Europe's religious memory is approached in the following ways: as vicarious-a particularly European characteristic, as precarious-especially among young people, and as it is portrayed by the media. The memory may fragment, be disputed, and in extreme cases, disappear. Alternatives may emerge. The challenge for European societies is to affirm healthy mutations in religious memory and discourage others. The book also examines the increasing diversity of Europe's religious life. European Societies Series Series Editor: Colin Crouch Very few of the existing sociological texts which compare different European societies on specific topics are accessible to a broad range of scholars and students. The European Societies series will help fill this gap in the literature, and attempt to answer questions such as: Is there really such a thing as a 'European model' of society? Do the economic and political integration processes of the European Union also imply convergence in more general aspects of social life, like family or religious behaviour? What do the societies of Western Europe have in common with those further to the east? This series will cover the main social institutions, although not every author will cover the full range of European countries. As well as surveying existing knowledge in a way that will be useful to students, each book will also seek to contribute to our growing knowledge of what remains in many respects a sociologically unknown continent.

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe PDF

Author: Grace Davie

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2021-12-08

Total Pages: 871

ISBN-13: 0192571060

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Europe offers a detailed overview of religious ideas, structures, and institutions in the making of Europe. It examines the role of religion in fostering identity, survival, and tolerance in the empires and nation-states of Europe from Antiquity until today; the interplay between religion, politics and ideologies in the twentieth century; the dialogue between religious communities and European institutions in the construction of the European Union; and the engagement of Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Judaism, and Eastern religions with the idea of Europe. The collection closes with an overview of European nation states, focusing on history, demography, legal perspectives, political authorities, societal changes, and current trends. Written by leading scholars in the field, the Handbook is an authoritative and up-to-date volume which demonstrates the enduring presence of lived and institutionalized religion in the social networks of identity, policy, and power over two millennia of European history.

Religion and Civil Society in Europe

Religion and Civil Society in Europe PDF

Author: Joep de Hart

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-07-15

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 940076815X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Religion is back again in Europe after never having been gone. It is manifest in the revival of religious institutions and traditions in former communist countries, in political controversies about the relationship between the church(es) and the state and about the freedom of religion and the freedom to criticize religion, and in public unease about religious minorities. This book is about religion and civil society in Europe. It moves from general theoretical and normative approaches of this relationship, via the examination of national patterns of religion-state relations, to in-depth analyses of the impact of religion and secularization on the values, pro-social attitudes and civic engagement of individuals. It covers Europe from the Lutheran North to the Catholic South, and from the secularized West to the Orthodox East and Islamic South-East with comparative analyses and country studies, concluding with an overall Europe-USA comparison.

Religious Orthodoxy and Popular Faith in European Society

Religious Orthodoxy and Popular Faith in European Society PDF

Author: Ellen Badone

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-02-09

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 069122501X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

By examining the ongoing tension between popular and official religion in Europe, this collection of essays contributes significantly to the continuing effort to understand the religious experience of ordinary people. Ranging from the Mediterranean to northern Europe and including both Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions, the ethnographic contexts evoked in these essays enable us to see people actively and creatively shaping their religious domain, sometimes in collaboration with official ritual specialists, often in open rebellion against them. The use of folklore texts and extensive narrative quotations, combined with an approach highlighting key symbols such as pilgrimages and festas, provides a common theoretical orientation throughout the bookone that considers how religious discourses are formed by social disciplines and relationships of power and subordination. This volume includes "Spirits and the Spirit of Capitalism" by Jane Schneider, "The Priest and His People: The Contractual Basis for Religious Practice in Rural Portugal" by Caroline B. Brettell, "The Struggle for the Church: Popular Anticlericalism and Religiosity in Post-Franco Spain" by Ruth Behar, "Pilgrimage and Popular Religion at a Greek Holy Shrine" by Jill Dubisch, "Breton Folklore of Anticlericalism" by Ellen Badone, "Stories of Power, Powerful Stories: The Drunken Priest in Donegal" by Lawrence J. Taylor, and "Reflections on the Study of Religious Orthodoxy and Popular Faith in Europe" by Stanley Brandes.

Religion in the New Europe

Religion in the New Europe PDF

Author: Krzysztof Michalski

Publisher: Central European University Press

Published: 2006-03-20

Total Pages: 150

ISBN-13: 6155053901

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The articles in this volume deal with the role of Christianity in the definition of European identity. Europeans often identify advanced civilizations with secularity. But religion is very much alive in other fast developing countries of the world. In Europe, nevertheless, the organized churches very much wanted to stress the Christian character of European identity, and this engendered a lively protest focusing on the perceived threat to the secular European tradition. Also, Europe is facing its greatest cultural challenge in the demand of Turkey to be admitted as a member, and in the demand of many Muslims in Europe, often citizens of the countries in which they live, to be recognized in their difference and at the same time integrated in the European national and supranational institutions.

Religion in Public Spaces

Religion in Public Spaces PDF

Author: Dr Sabrina Pastorelli

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2012-10-28

Total Pages: 602

ISBN-13: 1409483339

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This timely volume discusses the much debated and controversial subject of the presence of religion in the public sphere. The book is divided in three sections. In the first the public/private distinction is studied mainly from a theoretical point of view, through the contributions of lawyers, philosophers and sociologists. In the following sections their proposals are tested through the analysis of two case studies, religious dress codes and places of worship. These sections include discussions on some of the most controversial recent cases from around Europe with contributions from some of the leading experts in the area of law and religion. Covering a range of very different European countries including Turkey, the UK, Italy and Bulgaria, the book uses comparative case studies to illustrate how practice varies significantly even within Europe. It reveals how familiarization with religious and philosophical diversity in Europe should lead to the modification of legal frameworks historically designed to accommodate majority religions. This in turn should give rise to recognition of new groups and communities and eventually, a more adequate response to the plurality of religions and beliefs in European society.

Religion in Public Spaces

Religion in Public Spaces PDF

Author: Silvio Ferrari

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-08

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 1317067541

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This timely volume discusses the much debated and controversial subject of the presence of religion in the public sphere. The book is divided in three sections. In the first the public/private distinction is studied mainly from a theoretical point of view, through the contributions of lawyers, philosophers and sociologists. In the following sections their proposals are tested through the analysis of two case studies, religious dress codes and places of worship. These sections include discussions on some of the most controversial recent cases from around Europe with contributions from some of the leading experts in the area of law and religion. Covering a range of very different European countries including Turkey, the UK, Italy and Bulgaria, the book uses comparative case studies to illustrate how practice varies significantly even within Europe. It reveals how familiarization with religious and philosophical diversity in Europe should lead to the modification of legal frameworks historically designed to accommodate majority religions. This in turn should give rise to recognition of new groups and communities and eventually, a more adequate response to the plurality of religions and beliefs in European society.

Religion, Rights and Secular Society

Religion, Rights and Secular Society PDF

Author: Peter Cumper

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 178195349X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

ÔReligion, Rights and Secular Society by Peter Cumper and Tom Lewis is a both timely and important publication. In a series of highly interesting and well-written essays Ð some of which are case studies covering many different European nations whereas others are more theoretical Ð the book looks at a key paradox in contemporary Europe: the relatively high levels of secularity in most European countries on the one hand, and the marked resurgence of religion in public debates on the other. While never pretending that there are ready answers to the problems of reconciling secular and religious values in Europe, the contributors make it quite clear that Europeans need to return to questions about religion that they had previously regarded as being settled. This is food for thought at a very high level!Õ Ð Helle Porsdam, University of Copenhagen, Denmark This topical collection of chapters examines secular society and the legal protection of religion and belief across Europe, both in general and more nation-specific terms. The expectations of many that religion in modern Europe would be swept away by the powerful current of secularization have not been realised, and today few topics generate more controversy than the complex relationship between religious and secular values. The Ôreligious/secularÕ relationship is examined in this book, which brings together scholars from different parts of Europe and beyond to provide insights into the methods by which religion and equivalent beliefs have been, and continue to be, protected in the legal systems and constitutions of European nations. The contributorsÕ chapters reveal that the oft-tumultuous legacy of EuropeÕs relationship with religion still resonates across a continent where legal, political and social contours have been powerfully shaped by faith and religious difference. Covering recent controversies such as the Islamic headscarf, and the presence of the crucifix in school class-rooms, this book will appeal to academics and students in law, human rights and the social sciences, as well as law and policy makers and NGOs in the field of human rights.

Religion and the Struggle for European Union

Religion and the Struggle for European Union PDF

Author: Brent F. Nelsen

Publisher: Georgetown University Press

Published: 2015-03-31

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 1626160708

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Nelsen and Guth contend that religion, or "confessional culture, " plays a powerful role in shaping European ideas about politics, attitudes toward European integration, and national and continental identities in its leaders and citizens. Catholicism has for centuries promoted the unity of Christendom, while Protestantism has valued particularity and feared Catholic dominance. These confessional cultures, the authors argue, have resulted in two very different visions of Europe that have deeply influenced the process of postwar integration. Catholics have seen Europe as a single cultural entity that is best governed by a single polity; Protestants have never felt part of continental culture and have valued national borders as protectors of liberties historically threatened by Catholic powers. Catholics have pressed for a politically united Europe; Protestants have resisted sacrificing sovereignty to federal institutions, favoring pragmatic cooperation. Despite growing secularization of the continent, not to mention the impact of Islam, confessional culture still exerts enormous influence. And, the authors conclude, European elites must recognize the enduring significance of this Catholic-Protestant cultural divide as the EU attempts to solve its social and economic and political crises.