Monthly Archives: August 2012

The Religions of Canadians

The Religions of Canadians is a book about religions and the making of Canada. Drawing on the expert knowledge and personal insights of scholars in history, the social sciences, and the phenomenology of religion, separate chapters introduce the beliefs and practices of nine religious traditions, some mainstream, some less familiar.

The opening chapter explores how Aboriginal Canadian traditions continue to thrive after centuries of oppression. Subsequent chapters follow in the footsteps of Catholic and Protestant Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Baha’is as they have made their way to Canada, and reveal how different immigrant communities have adapted their rich religious heritages to a new life in a new land. Each chapter is divided into five

sections: an introduction; a succinct overview of the tradition; its passage to and transformation in Canada; a close study of contemporary Canadian communities; and an afterword suggesting possibilities for future research.

Chapters conclude with a list of important terms and dates, related websites, a concise bibliography of further readings, and key questions for reflection.

The Religions of Canadians is a timely and unique contribution to the field, introducing readers to the religions of the world while simultaneously building an overall picture of the development of Canada’s multicultural, pluralist society.

For more details to order copies, please see:

https://www.utppublishing.com/The-Religions-of-Canadians.html

Religion in Public Spaces: A European Perspective

Ashgate, September 2012

Edited by Silvio Ferrari and Sabrina Pastorelli, both at The University of Milan, Italy Series : Cultural Diversity and Law in Association with RELIGARE

https://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&title_id=12052&edition_id=12431&calcTitle=1

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.

Contents: Religion and rethinking the public-private divide:

introduction, Marie-Claire Foblets; Part I Religions and the Public/Private Divide: Public and private, a moving border: a legal-historical perspective, Kjell Ã…. Modeer; Socio-historical perspectives on the public and private spheres, Adam Seligmann; The ‘public-private’ divide on drift: what, if any, is its importance for analysing limits of associational religious freedoms?, Veit Bader; Religious freedom and the public-private divide: a broken promise in Europe?, Alessandro Ferrari; The ‘public’ and the ‘private’ in the common law and civil law traditions and the regulation of religion, Jean-François Gaudreault-DesBiens and Noura Karazivan; Contested normative cultures. Gendered perspectives on religions and the public/private divide, Hanne Petersen; Religion in the European public

spaces: a legal overview, Silvio Ferrari. Part II Religion and the Dress

Codes: From front-office to back-office: religious dress crossing the public-private divide in the workplace, Katayoun Alidadi; Religious dress codes: the Turkish case, A. Emre Öktem and Mehmet C. Uzun; Religious dress codes in the United Kingdom, Javier Garcia Oliva; Religious dress codes: the Italian case, Sabrina Pastorelli; Religious dress codes: the Bulgarian case, Maya Kosseva and Iva Kyurkchieva; Comparing burqa debates in Europe: sartorial styles, religious prescriptions and political ideologies, Sara Silvestri. Part III Religion and the Places of Worship: The right to establish and maintain places of worship: the developments of its normative content under international human rights law, Noel G. Villaroman; The places of worship in France and the public/private divide, Anne Fornerod; ‘Stopp Minarett’? The controversy over the building of minarets in Switzerland:

religious freedom versus collective identity, Vincenzo Pacillo; Places of worship: between public and private: a comparison between Bulgaria, Italy and the Netherlands, Tymen J. van der Ploeg; Index.

About the Editor: Silvio Ferrari is Professor of Canon Law, University of Milan and President, International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, Italy. His research interests are in the areas of Church and State in Europe; Comparative law of religions, and Vatican-Israel relations. He has published widely on these and related areas.

Sabrina Pastorelli is research fellow at the Institute of International Law - section of Ecclesiastical and Canon Law - University of Milan, Faculty of Law. She is also a member of the Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (GSRL-CNRS/École Pratique des Hautes Études-Sorbonne) and teaching assistant at the Catholic University of Paris - Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences. Her research interests include sociology of religion; new religious movements; law and religion in Europe; religious education; regulation of religious pluralism; state public policy and religion. She is a member of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (ISSR); the Association for Sociology of Religion (ASR); the Italian Sociological Association (AIS).

Reviews: ‘This book offers more than its title promises. It is not only about Europe or about religion. Insightful, suggestive and as diverse as its contributors, it contains a persuasive reflection on the need to rethink the very notion of public space that Western democracies have used since the nineteenth century.’

Javier Martinez-Torron, Complutense University School of Law, Spain

‘This is a highly important book in a remarkable controversy. Silvio Ferrari and Sabrina Pastorelli present a rich volume full of information, thought, and insight - presenting masterpieces of interdisciplinary research and political guidance. The book is a most valuable contribution to freedom and equality throughout Europe.’

Gerhard Robbers, University of Trier, Germany

Sad News About Ivan Varga

Dear members and friends of RC22,

It is with great sadness that I am informing you that our RC22 Honorary President, Professor Ivan Varga, passed away a few days ago. He was a great friend, sociologist and mentor to many of us, and was central to the growth of RC22 since its beginning. He will be terribly missed.

A website has been set up by Christina Varga, if any of you would like to leave any comments: https://IvanVargaMemorial.blogspot.com/

I am copying below his obituary from the same site:

“Dr. Ivan Varga stood up for what he believed in, no matter how dangerous or unpopular his opinions.

He was from an assimilated Jewish family in Budapest, Hungary. During the Second World War, he would go out without his yellow star outside curfew hours for Jews, in order to get more food rations, thus risking being picked up and being shot into the Danube River.

He survived that, only to see the dream of liberation by the Russians turn into the nightmare of an oppressive regime. But he didn’t keep a low profile; rather spoke and wrote critically about the regime, making him a target during Hungary’s counterrevolution in 1956. He escaped to Poland, and when it was a bit safer for him to return to Hungary, found himself blacklisted from working for years.

After the war, he studied with luminaries such as Georg Lukacs, later earning his doctorate.

He and Eva Launsky married in 1961 and Christina was born in 1968.

Having acquired several languages, including English, Ivan was allowed to leave to teach at the university in Tanzania, accompanied by his family. But after the four-year stint was up, they decided to defect, leaving a known but grey future in Hungary for a completely unknown future in the West. They landed in Germany, bringing nothing but their clothes, a few African artifacts and their education.

He taught at universities in Germany, but after a year, was recruited to teach sociology at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. There he stayed until retirement in 1996, when he became Professor Emeritus.

Throughout his career, he pursued his interests in the sociology of art and culture, and religion, later adding a new interest in the study of the body. He worked in an international forum, collaborating with colleagues around the world, including a senior research fellowship at Harvard’s Center for the Study of World Religions, and research in France and Hungary.

After retiring, he continued to write and edit international publications, and organize and attend conferences abroad.

He continued his decades-long work with the International Sociological Association, particularly with the Sociology of Religion Research Committee. After his term as President of the research committee was up, he became Honorary President, a role he kept until he died.

He is terribly missed by his wife Eva, daughter Christina and granddaughter Alexandra (who was the last person he smiled at and who never failed to give him joy).”

Towards a Symmetrical Approach: The Study of Religions After Postmodern and Postcolonial Criticism

Towards a Symmetrical Approach:

The Study of Religions After Postmodern and Postcolonial Criticism

29 November – 1 December 2012 • Brno • Czech Republic

https://www.phil.muni.cz/relig/symmetry2012/

“The symmetry postulate”, as David Bloor formulated it, “enjoins us to seek the same kind of causes for both true and false, rational and irrational beliefs.” Such a principle seems to conform to the common sense. At the same time it is often neglected in the field of social sciences. In the light of consequences of this principle, the academic study of religions seems to be predominantly an exercise in asymmetry:

neglecting the voices of women and favouring men’s worlds; preferring the voices of experts over those of lay participants, of elites over ordinary people; siding with the winners against the losers. The postmodern and postcolonial criticism of the Western scholarly tradition have brought number of such asymmetries to our sight. Yet, the symmetrical ways are still an unexplored territory. This workshop on the symmetrical approach would like to offer a chance to explore this unexplored territory together.

We therefore invite students of religions, qualitative sociologists, anthropologists, and historians to exchange ideas and scholarly experience and examples of good practice at a workshop on the symmetrical approach in the study of religions held in Brno, Czech Republic.

See the call for papers for a more detailed overview:

https://www.phil.muni.cz/relig/symmetry2012/call-for-papers.php

Organizing bodies

Department for the Study of Religions, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University

Czech Association for the Study of Religions (CASR)

Religious Diversity and Accommodation in the European Workplace

Dear All,

You may be interested in knowing about the publication of the following book, the first in the Ashgate Religare series:

A Test of Faith? Religious Diversity and Accommodation in the European Workplace Edited by Katayoun Alidadi, Marie-Claire Foblets and Jogchum Vrielink, all at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium

See the following link for a fuller description and free access to the contents and introduction chapter:

https://www.ashgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&calcTitle=1&forthcoming=1&title_id=11755&edition_id=15297

AFROEUROPE@NS IV: BLACK CULTURES AND IDENTITIES IN EUROPE Continental Shifts, Shifts in Perception London, UK 1-4 October 2013

Afroeurope@s/Afroeurope@ns is an international research and development group funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [Ref.

FFI2009-08948]. The group is holding its fourth international conference in London from 1-4 October 2013 at Senate House, Malet House, London WC1E 7HU. The conference is supported by the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Studies at the University of London, and by the Postcolonial Literatures Research Group, Department of English at The Open University.

The fourth conference will be a focus for the many strands of this dynamic field of study, and aims to include presentations on both established and emerging research areas of a trans- and multidisciplinary nature. We recognise that this field cannot be confined to traditional textual representations and forms of expression and so encourage submissions from a wide range of disciplines. These may cover not only literature, history or sociology, but also music, the visual arts, popular culture(s), sports, religion, film etc. We welcome submissions dealing with topics that are cross-genre in nature and use different expressive media, which may tackle the following:

* Tomorrow’s Generations

Examining policies relating to AfroEuropean young people, work on and by AfroEuropean youth, the depiction and perceptions of these groups * Embracing ‘Others’

Exploring work by AfroEuropean artists and writers which breaks stereotypes, from science fiction to crime writing, from art to opera * Tongue Twisters Highlighting issues across the world of translation, such as how work is chosen to be translated or how translators surmount linguistic barriers * North Africa’s ‘Arab Spring’; Western constructs deconstructed Interrogating European depictions of North Africa’s recent civil uprisings * All Gods in the New World?

Reflecting on the clash and convergences of religions in the AfroEuropean arena * Going for Gold Analysing how Africa has changed the face of European sport

Submissions that do not directly deal with the aforementioned topics will also be considered. Presentations, which are not restricted to written academic texts, should be planned to last for no more than twenty minutes. The language of the conference for presentations will be English, French or Spanish. We require an abstract of 400 words, which must be written in the language of the presentation.

Abstracts for AfroEurope@ns IV should in the first instance be sent to the following email address -sharmilla.beezmohun@speaking-volumes.org.uk

- and should be submitted no later than 1 March 2013. The scientific committee will reply to all abstracts no later than 15 April 2013. A full programme, including plenary speakers and all other participants, will be published by 1 June 2013. A selection of papers and other presentations will be published after the conference.

In Association with Speaking Volumes Live Literature Productions