Monthly Archives: August 2014

The Changing Soul of Europe: Religions and Migrations in Northern and Southern Europe

The Changing Soul of Europe
Religions and Migrations in Northern and Southern Europe

Edited by Helena Vilaça, University of Porto, Portugal, Enzo Pace, University of Padova, Italy, Inger Furseth, University of Oslo, Norway and Per Pettersson, Karlstad University and Uppsala University, Sweden

https://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472434692

Ashgate, August 2014

Edited by Helena Vilaça, University of Porto, Portugal, Enzo Pace, University of Padova, Italy, Inger Furseth, University of Oslo, Norway and Per Pettersson, Karlstad University and Uppsala University, Sweden

This book paves the way for a more enlarged discussion on religion and migration phenomena in countries of Northern and Southern Europe. From a comparative perspective, these are regions with very different religious traditions and different historical State/Church relations. Although official religion persisted longer in Nordic Protestant countries than in South Mediterranean countries, levels of secularization are higher.
In the last decades, both Northern and Southern Europe have received strong flows of newcomers. From this perspective, the book presents through various theoretical lenses and empirical researches the impact mobility and consequent religious transnationalism have on multiple aspects of culture and social life in societies where the religious landscapes are increasingly diverse. The chapters demonstrate that we are dealing with complex scenarios: different contexts of reception, different countries of origin, various ethnicities and religious traditions (Catholics, Orthodox and Evangelical Christians, Muslims, Buddhists). Having become plural spaces, our societies tend to be far more concerned with the issue of social integration rather than with that of social identities reconstruction in society as a whole, often ignoring that today religion manifests itself as a plurality of religions. In short, what are the implications of newcomers for the religious life of Europe and for the redesign of its soul?

Contents: Introduction. Part I Theoretical Remarks: Religion in motion:
migration, religion and social theory, Enzo Pace; New economy, migration and social change: the impact on religion, José Madureira Pinto; Immigrant religions and the context of reception in advanced industrial societies, Tuomas Martikainen. Part II Religion and Migration in Europe: Case Studies: Migration and ethno-religious identity in contemporary
Greece: the role of the Orthodox Church, Elisabeth A. Diamantopoulou; How the Portuguese Catholic Church is dealing with newcomers: the particular case of Eastern European immigrants, Helena Vilaça; Beyond
parishes: challenges of Catholic-Christian second generations, Roberta Ricucci; Ethnic and religious diversities in Portugal: the case of Brazilian Evangelical immigrants, Donizete Rodrigues; Accommodation and
tension: African Christian communities and their Swedish hosts, Anne Kubai; Young Muslim women’s public self-representations: a new generation of Italians seeking legitimacy, Annalisa Frisina; Values and religion in transition: a case study of a Swedish multicultural public school, Per Pettersson; Hijab street fashion and style in Oslo, Inger Furseth; Religiosity and ethnicity: Vietnamese immigrant religion in Denmark, Jørn Borup. Conclusion; Index.

About the Editors

Helena Vilaça is member of the council of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion, representing Iberia, and her scientific work has been significantly dominated by religion.She is the author of From the Babel Tower to the Promised Lands: Religious Pluralism in Portugal (2006), and Religion in Motion: Migrants and Religious Diversity in Portugal and Italy (2012), edited with Enzo Pace.

Enzo Pace is Visiting Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales and Past-President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion. Recent publications include Islam in Europe (2010); (eds. with H. VILAÇA), Religion as Communication (2011); Il carisma, la fede, la chiesa. Introduzione alla sociologia del cristianesimo, (2012); (ed.) Le religioni nell’Italia che cambia, (2013).

Inger Furseth is professor of sociology at University of Oslo and the director of the research program NOREL (The role of religion in the public sphere: A comparative study of the five Nordic countries). Her publications include A Comparative Study of Social and Religious Movements in Norway, 1780s-1905 (2001), From Quest for Truth to Being Oneself (2006), and An Introduction to the Sociology of Religion (2006, with PÃ¥l Repstad). Her research centers on public religion, religious diversity, gender issues, social and religious movements, and social theory.

Per Pettersson is guest professor at Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre - CRS, at Uppsala University (Sweden) and director of CRS ten year long research programme; The Impact of Religion Challenges for Society, Law and Democracy, 2008-2018. He is mainly involved in international comparative research. Recent publications include; State and Religion in Sweden: Ambiguity between Disestablishment and Religious Control (2011); Majority Churches as Agents of European Welfare: A Sociological Approach (in A. Bäckström, G. Davie, and N. Edgardh, eds., Welfare and Religion in 21st Century Europe. 2011).

Reviews: ‘The relevance of The Changing Soul of Europe extends far beyond its stated geographic limits. Vilaça et al. have drawn together a superb collection of essays that together map and explain shifts in the “soul of Europe” and which is sure to illuminate similar shifts in other religious landscapes, including Canada, the United States and Australia.
Rich in theoretical and empirical insights, this volume is an essential contribution to scholarship on migration, religion and diversity and “religion in motion”. The radically new terrain on which we find ourselves in relation to religion requires the creative thinking and genuinely innovative approaches offered in this volume.’
Lori G. Beaman, University of Ottawa, Canada _______________________________________________

Religion and Power: No Logos without Mythos

Religion and Power: No Logos without Mythos David Martin, London School of Economics, UK Ashgate, August 2014

https://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781472433596

There are few more contentious issues than the relation of faith to power or the suggestion that religion is irrational compared with politics and peculiarly prone to violence. The former claim is associated with Juergen Habermas and the latter with Richard Dawkins.

In this book David Martin argues, against Habermas, that religion and politics share a common mythic basis and that it is misleading to contrast the rationality of politics with the irrationality of religion.
In contrast to Richard Dawkins (and New Atheists generally), Martin argues that the approach taken is brazenly unscientific and that the proclivity to violence is a shared feature of religion, nationalism and political ideology alike rooted in the demands of power and social solidarity. The book concludes by considering the changing ecology of faith and power at both centre and periphery in monuments, places and spaces.

Contents

Introduction; Secularisation, secularism and the post-secular: the power dimension. Part I Religion, War and Violence: The problematic; The rhetorical issue of sentences about religion and violence; Modes of truth and rival narratives; the rival narratives. Part II Religion and Nationalism, Religion and Politics: The political future of religion; Nationalism and religion: collective identity and choice; Charisma and founding fatherhood; Religion and politics; Religion, politics and secularisation; No logos without mythos. Part III Religion, Power and Emplacement: The historical ecology of European and North American religion; Inscribing the general theory of secularisation and its basic patterns in the space/time of the city; England and London; Moscow and
Eurasia: centre and periphery, ethno-religion and voluntarism, secularisation and de-secularisation. Index.

About the Author

David Martin is Emeritus Professor of Sociology, LSE, UK, and Fellow of the British Academy. He was born in Mortlake, in 1929 and attended East Sheen Grammar School and Westminster College, In the latter part of a seven year period in primary school teaching he took a first class (external) degree in sociology in his spare time and won a post-graduate scholarship to the LSE. He became a lecturer in the LSE sociology department in 1962 and professor from 1971-89. After his first book on Pacifism (1965) he produced the first critique of secularisation theory (1965) and the first statement of a general theory of secularisation (1969 and 1978). From 1986-90 he was distinguished professor of Human Values at Southern Methodist University and turned to the study of global Pentecostalism, producing, the first summary statement of the world-wide Pentecostal phenomenon in 1990. He also returned to the issue of religion and violence and explored issues in music and nationalism and sociology and theology. His intellectual autobiography The Education of David Martin appeared in 2013.

Reviews

‘At last, a book from a leading sociologist about the real relations between religion, politics, and violence. It sets the standard for future discussions.’ Keith Ward, Oxford University, UK

‘Not since the writings of R.H. Tawney have the sociological and moral imaginations been joined in such an eloquent defence of both reason and religion. Martin not only commits us to the most rigorous of reflections on religion and power, he also demands we engage with the power and authority of religion.’ Adam Seligman, Boston University, USA

‘The complicated and very varied relationships between faith and power can only be understood by making comparisons between different societies and at different points in their history. This is the great strength of David Martin’s analysis. His knowledge is wide and he compares with great skill. It is a refreshing change from the ignorant and purely ideological analyses provided by our born-again atheists in which faith inevitably renders malign the exercise of power and anyway must give way to a brave new secular and enlightened world. David Martin has shown both that religious convictions and religious institutions continue to be directly and indirectly important in shaping the uses of power and that the consequences of this vary both by which religion we are considering and by the way faith is embedded in and interacts with other aspects of the social order. In this latter respect faith is no different from secular political beliefs and values. Truly a masterpiece of comparative sociology.’ Christie Davies, Reading University, UK

‘This book offers new insights into the evolution of religion, and its complex relations to modern nationalism and politics, relations characterized by both borrowing and opposition. Attempts to mark a neat separation between religion and the secular do more to obscure what is going on in our world than clarify the moral issues we face. David Martin’s careful analysis casts floods of light on the real world, in which no group is pure, and all honest agents have to face dilemmas, often agonizing. There is much more in this broad and stimulating book, including reflections on the continued significance of sacred spaces in contemporary cities, and their relations to each other.’
Charles Taylor, McGill University, USA _______________________________________________

Framing Religious Diversity in the Contemporary World

Religious Pluralism
Framing Religious Diversity in the Contemporary World Edited by Giuseppe Giordan, Enzo Pace Springer - 2014 - 188 pages

https://www.springer.com/social+sciences/religious+studies/book/978-3-319-06622-6

This volume illustrates both theoretically and empirically the differences between religious diversity and religious pluralism. It highlights how the factual situation of cultural and religious diversity may lead to individual, social and political choices of organized and recognized pluralism. In the process, both individual and collective identities are redefined, incessantly moving along the continuum that ranges from exclusion to inclusion.

The book starts by first detailing general issues related to religious pluralism. It makes the case for keeping the empirical, the normative, the regulatory and the interactive dimensions of religious pluralism analytically distinct while recognizing that, in practice, they often overlap. It also underlines the importance of seeking connections between religious pluralism and other pluralisms. Next, the book explores how religious diversity can operate to contribute to legal pluralism and examines the different types of church-state relations: eradication, monopoly, oligopoly and pluralism.

The second half of the book features case studies that provide a more specific look at the general issues, from ways to map and assess the religious diversity of a whole country to a comparison between Belgian-French views of religious and philosophical diversity, from religious pluralism in Italy to the shifting approach to ethnic and religious diversity in America, and from a sociological and historical perspective of religious plurality in Japan to an exploration of Brazilian religions, old and new.

The transition from religious diversity to religious pluralism is one of the most important challenges that will reshape the role of religion in contemporary society. This book provides readers with insights that will help them better understand and interpret this unprecedented transition.

Contents:

Chapter 1: Introduction: Pluralism as Legitimization of Diversity; Giuseppe Giordan.- PART I: IDEAS AND CONCEPTS ON RELIGIOUS PLURALISM.- Chapter 2: Rethinking Religious Pluralism; James A. Beckford.- Chapter
3: Religious Diversity, Social Control, and Legal Pluralism: A Socio-Legal Analysis; James T. Richardson.- Chapter 4: Oligopoly Is Not Pluralism; Fenggang Yang.- PART II: CASE STUDIES IN RELIGIOUS
PLURALISM.- Chapter 5 : Religious and Philosophical Diversity as a Challenge for the Secularism: A Belgian-French Comparison; Jean-Paul
Willaime.- Chapter 6: The Diversity of Religious Diversity. Using Census and NCS Methodology in Order to Map and Assess the Religious Diversity of a Whole Country; Christophe Monnot and Jörg Stolz.- Chapter 7:
Increasing Religious Diversity in a Society Monopolized by Catholicism; Enzo Pace.- Chapter 8: Rethinking Religious Diversity: Diversities and Governance of Diversities in “Post-Societies”; Siniša Zrinščak.- Chapter 9: Diversity vs Pluralism? Notes from the American Experience; James V.
Spickard.- Chapter 10: Between No Establishment and Free Exercise: The Dialectic of American Religious Pluralism; William H. Swatos, Jr.- Chapter 11: Missionary Trans-border Religions and Defensive Civil Society in Contemporary Japan: Toward a Comparative Institutional Approach to Religious Pluralism; Yoshihide Sakurai.- Chapter 12:
Religious Tendencies in Brazil: Disenchantment, Secularization, and Sociologists; Roberto Motta.- Index

Editors

Giuseppe Giordan is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Padua. From 2009 to 2013 he served as General Secretary of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion. With Enzo Pace and Luigi Berzano he edits the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion.
His books in English include Identity and Pluralism. The Values of the Post-Modern Time. Center for Migration Studies, 2004; Vocation and Social Context (ed.), Brill, 2007; Conversion in the Age of Pluralism (ed.), Brill, 2009; Youth and Religion (ed.), Brill, 2010; Religion, Spirituality and Everyday Practices (ed. with William H. Swatos, Jr.) Springer, 2011.

Enzo Pace, Full professor of sociology of religion at Padua University, Directeur d’Études invité at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Past-President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (ISSR). Co-editors of the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion (Brill). Recent publications: Religion as Communication.
Farnham: Ashgate, 2011; Il carisma, la fede, la chiesa: introduzione alla sociologia del cristianesimo. Roma: Carocci, 2012; La comunicazione invisibile. Religioni e internet. Cinisello Balsamo, San Paolo Editore, 2013.

Assistant Professor of American Religion, Barnard College, Columbia University

Assistant Professor, American Religion
May 23, 2014

The Religion Department of Barnard College announces a tenure-track Assistant Professor position in the field of American religion. The area of specialization (e.g., historical period, geographical region, theoretical/methodological approach) is open, but we especially welcome applications from candidates whose work situates the study of American religion in transnational perspective. Ph.D. in religion or a related field is required. The successful candidate will be conversant with broad questions that currently animate the academic study of religion, including theoretical and comparative concerns, and will contribute to Barnard’s interdisciplinary American Studies program. All members of the Barnard Religion department participate in one or more of the College’s interdisciplinary undergraduate programs, as well as the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Columbia University.

Complete applications should include a cover letter addressing teaching philosophy and research interests; a current c.v.; a short writing sample (e.g., a published article, a dissertation chapter, or the like); teaching evaluations (if available); and 3 letters of recommendation.
Evidence of teaching excellence and a serious research program are essential. Applicants should submit application materials as pdf files to https://careers.barnard.edu/postings/918. Review of applications begins October 1, 2014.

Barnard College is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Barnard does not discriminate due to race, color, creed, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender and/or gender identity or expression, marital or parental status, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship status, veteran or military status, age, disability, or any other legally protected basis, and to the extent permitted by law. Qualified candidates of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds are encouraged to apply for vacant positions at all levels.

Religious Innovation and Religious Change in the 21st Century, CESNUR, 2015, Tallinn, Estonia

THE 2015 CESNUR CONFERENCE

co-organized by

Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR) International Society for the Study of New Religions (ISSNR) Estonian Institute of Humanities, Tallin University

RELIGIOUS INNOVATION AND RELIGIOUS CHANGE IN THE 21ST CENTURY Tallinn University, Tallinn (Estonia), 18-20 June 2015

CALL FOR PAPERS

The 2015 CESNUR Conference will return to the Baltics, where it will be hosted by the University of Tallinn. We welcome papers especially on this year’s theme:

“Religious Innovation and Religious Change in the 21st Century”

As the 2014 CESNUR conference in Waco, Texas focused on globalization and how religious movements adapt to external and societal changes, in
2015 we plan to discuss internal changes in the movements and religious innovation. With this theme in mind, we will welcome especially papers on recently born new religious movements, new forms of religious innovation, and on religious movements in Eastern and Central Europe, particularly in the Baltic Sea Region.

Papers will also be welcome on:
- Change in “old” new religions
- New religious movements and the visual arts
- Esoteric movements and innovation
- New religions operating as global networks

and all those topics upon which you are currently conducting research in our usual, larger area.

Papers and sessions proposals should be submitted by E-mail before the close of business on 23 January 2015 to cesnur_to@virgilio.it, accompanied by an abstract of no more than 300 words and a CV of no more than 200 words. Proposals may be submitted either in English or in French.

The conference will begin on Wednesday evening with a reception and opening session. Conference sessions will run through the day on Thursday and Friday, through Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon will be a time for a local tour, which will focus on Estonian religion.

Associate Professor in the Sociology of Religion, Copenhagen University

Associate Professor in the Sociology of Religion

https://jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabelige-stillinger/?show=673874

(note deadline 1 September 2014)

The Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Copenhagen University (UCPH), Denmark, invites applications for an associate professorship in the Sociology of Religion to be filled by 1 February 2015 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies works with languages, cultures, religion and society, primarily in the world outside Western Europe and the US. Cross-cultural competences and knowledge of the complexity of the world are of vital importance in the globalised world - politically, economically, and culturally.

Job Content
The associate professorship is offered in the field of the Sociology of Religion. In assessing research qualifications emphasis will be placed on the applicant’s research and publications within the Sociology of Religion with special regard to religious topics in Denmark.

The applicant must demonstrate qualifications within both quantitative and qualitative research. Moreover, the research should document originality, innovative academic approaches as well as first-hand experience with the methods and theoretical approaches of the Sociology of Religion.

The successful applicant must teach courses at BA and MA levels on sociological theories and methods. Furthermore, the applicant must be able to teach topics such as religion and economy, religion and politics and civil religion as well as supervise papers and theses on various topics within the field. The applicant is expected to provide a statement of his/her academic and pedagogical approaches. The successful applicant must also be able to supervise PhD students.

The position involves outreach activities.

The Associate Professor is expected to be able to take part in all the activities of the Department, including examinations and administration, and also to manage research projects, provide pedagogical supervision, support assistant professors and participate in academic assessment panels.

For further information about the position please contact the Head of Department Ingolf Thuesen, e-mail: i-leder.tors@hum.ku.dk

Qualification Requirements
When appointing a candidate to the post as Associate Professor, we stress that the applicant must have research and teaching qualifications corresponding to what can be achieved as part of a successful employment as an Assistant Professor.

The duties of the position are evenly distributed on tasks related to teaching and tasks related to research (including relevant
administration and knowledge-sharing). Hence the assessment of applicant’s qualifications will assign equal weight to documented competences in the field of teaching, pedagogy and didactics as in the field of research, research collaboration and research organization. In addition, applicants with experiences and reflections on how most effectively to integrate research and teaching activities will be given priority.

Furthermore, emphasis will be placed on the following:

  • Research qualifications, which will be assessed in relation to the period of active research, the degree of originality, and academic output. * The applicant’s scientific record, academic breadth and depth, rigour, thoroughness and accuracy
  • Teaching qualifications, (including the ability to conduct teaching in both Danish and English.). See also Educational Charter at
    https://www.humanities.ku.dk/about/vision_and_goals/educational_charter/ * Documentation of research management
  • Participation in networks - national and international

For further details about the qualification requirements for associate professorships, please refer to the job structure for academic staff
https://ufm.dk/lovstof/gaeldende-love-og-regler/uddannelsesinstitutioner/job-structure-for-academic-staff-at-universities-2013.pdf

For further information about the position, please contact Head of Department, Ingolf Thuesen, e-mail: i-leder.tors@hum.ku.dk.

Application
The application must be written in English and submitted online in Adobe PDF or Word format. ZIP-files cannot be uploaded.

Please note that each field in the application form can only contain 1 file of 20Mb max.

Please click on the “Apply online” icon at the bottom of the page.

The application must include the following enclosures:
Application letter/cover letter
Appendix 1: CV
Appendix 2: Documentation of qualifications (examination
certificates/PhD diploma, etc.)
Appendix 3: Complete and numbered list of publications. The enclosed publications must be marked with *
Appendix 4: Research plan, including a short description of previous research and a plan for the coming years that includes an account of involvement in organising research, establishment of research seminars, symposia and congresses etc.
Appendix 5: Documentation of teaching qualifications and research dissemination (organisation of classes, materials, courses and other forms of teaching).
Appendix 6: Publications. Applicants may choose a maximum of five publications for assessment, of which at least three of the selected works must have been published within the five years immediately preceding the deadline for applications. Publication dates must be clearly marked on the publication list. The publications selected must be uploaded as attachments and named from 1-5.

Should any material submitted consist of work with named co-authors, or work that is otherwise the result of collective academic endeavours, the extent of the applicant’s contribution to the work must be clearly stipulated. The Faculty may ask for a signed statement from the co-authors stipulating the extent and nature of each individual’s contribution.

Only material in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, English, German and French can be expected to be assessed.

All material will be shredded at the end of the appointment procedure.

Appointment procedure
After the application deadline, the Dean will set up an expert assessment committee to evaluate applicants specifically in relation to the advertised position. The applicants will be informed about the composition of the committee, and each candidate will have the opportunity to comment on the part of the assessment relating to themselves before the appointment is finalised.

Applicants will be regularly informed about the progress of the procedure by e-mail.

Further information about the procedure is available from HR and Personnel Mette Christensen, mail: vipadmin@hum.ku.dk.

Salary and conditions of employment
The post will be filled according to the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. Additional bonuses may be negotiated on an individual basis.

A special tax scheme is offered to researchers recruited abroad, https://ism.ku.dk/taxes.

If you consider applying from abroad, you may find useful information on how it is to work in Denmark and at UCPH. See : https://ism.ku.dk, https://workingconditions.ku.dk/ and https://www.workindenmark.dk/

The UCPH wishes to encourage everyone interested in this post to apply, regardless of personal background.

The closing date for applications is 23:59 CEST, 1 September 2014.

Applications or supplementary material received thereafter will not be considered.

Please quote reference number 211-0157/14-4000 in your application

John Templeton Foundation, call for proposals

The Autumn open-submission call for proposals for the John Templeton Foundation is open now until October 1, 2014. Visit https://portal.templeton.org/login to apply.

The John Templeton Foundation (JTF) will distribute $155M of funding in
2015 (up from $93M in 2013) for topics that range from quantum physics to the evolution of cultural complexity. A proportion of these funds are dedicated to topics relating to the social scientific study of religion (including non-religion), including sociological, psychological, anthropological, and economic approaches.

JTF gives grants for up to 3 years in duration and for projects ranging in scope from $50,000 to more than $5,000,000. There are no constraints on the nationalities of the principal investigator or project members.
The application process begins with an Online Funding Inquiry (essentially a letter of intent); applicants who are successful at this first stage are invited to submit a more detailed full proposal. The process includes peer review and is highly competitive: ~85% of proposals considered in the Human Sciences portfolio are rejected at the first stage and ~50% are rejected at the second stage.

Learn more about JTF’s grantmaking process here:
https://www.templeton.org/what-we-fund/our-grantmaking-process

Learn more about Sir John Templeton’s philanthropic vision here: https://www.templeton.org/sir-john-templeton/philanthropic-vision

Orthodox Identities in Western Europe: Migration, Settlement and Innovation

NEW BOOK ON RELIGION AND MIGRATION

Orthodox Identities in Western Europe: Migration, Settlement and Innovation Edited by Maria Hämmerli and Jean-François Mayer Ashgate, 2014

https://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409467540

The Orthodox migration in the West matters, despite its unobtrusive presence. And it matters in a way that has not yet been explored in social and religious studies: in terms of size, geographical scope, theological input and social impact. This book explores the adjustment of Orthodox migrants and their churches to Western social and religious contexts in different scenarios. This variety is consistent with Orthodox internal diversity regarding ethnicity, migration circumstances, Church-State relations and in line with the specificities of the receiving country in terms of religious landscape, degree of secularisation, legal treatment of immigrant religious institutions or socio-economic configurations. Exploring how Orthodox identities develop when displaced from traditional ground where they are socially and culturally embedded, this book offers fresh insights into Orthodox identities in secular, religiously pluralistic social contexts.

Contents

Introduction, Maria Hämmerli and Jean-François Mayer

Part I Migration and Settlement

Romanian Orthodox churches in Italy: the construction of the Romanian-Italian transnational Orthodox space, Suna Gülfer Ihlamur-Öner

The myth of an ideal leader: the case of the Syriac Orthodox community in Europe, Naures Atto

The transformation of social capital among Assyrians in the migration context, Soner Onder Barthoma

Orthodox churches in Germany: from migrant groups to permanent homeland, Reinhard Thöle

The ambivalent ecumenical relations among Russian Orthodox faithful in Germany, Sebastian Rimestad and Ernest Kadotschnikow

How do Orthodox integrate in their host countries? Examples from Switzerland, Maria Hämmerli

The Orthodox churches in the United Kingdom, Hugh Wybrew

Population movements and Orthodox Christianity in Finland: dislocations, resettlements, migrations and identities, Tuomas Martikainen and Teuvo Laitila

Orthodox parishes in Strasbourg: between migration and integration, Guillaume Keller

Orthodox priests in Norway: serving or ruling?, Berit Thorbjørnsrud

Part II Innovation

Not just caviar and balalaikas: unity and division in Russian Orthodox congregations in Denmark, Annika Hvithamar

Mediating Orthodoxy: convert agency and discursive autochthonism in Ireland, James A. Kapaló

The Great Athonite tradition in France: circulation of Athonite imaginaries and the emergence of a French style of Orthodoxy, Laurent Denizeau

‘We are Westerners and must remain Westerners’: Orthodoxy and Western rites in Western Europe, Jean-François Mayer

Innovation in the Russian Orthodox Church: the crisis in the diocese of Sourozh in Britain, Maria Hämmerli and Edmund Mucha

Index

About the Editors

Maria Hämmerli is a sociologist of religion and currently researches Orthodox Churches and their migration to traditionally non-Orthodox countries.

Jean-François Mayer is Director of the Institute Religioscope. He is the author of ten books and numerous articles on contemporary religion.

Reviews

‘With representative essays covering the majority of Western European cases, the volume offers rich ethnographic, historical and social-scientific material that enables and invites comparisons with other regions and countries. For the first time ever in contemporary literature, readers have the opportunity to gain valuable information about the presence of various Eastern Orthodox migrant groups in a multitude of countries. Thanks to this volume, researchers and scholars gain a better understanding of the condition of Eastern Christianity outside of its original heartlands.’ Victor Roudometof, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

‘Christian East meets the Post-Christian West in this book, revealing an exciting mosaic of Christian Orthodox presence in Europe: from the history of multilayer diaspora formation to the issues of accommodation, transnationalism, religious innovations and, most importantly, negotiation of new identities. Contrary to the swiftly rising interest to Muslim communities in Europe, the presence of rich and various Eastern Christians traditions have been clearly understudied, and this volume helps to fill the gap.’ Alexander Agadjanian, Russian State University for Humanities in Moscow, Russia

‘Given the growing importance of Orthodox Christians in Western Europe today, this volume is particularly welcome and fills a real gap. It is broad in scope, rich in material and theoretically challenging. It is thus indispensable not only for those interested in the modern expansion of Orthodox Christianity beyond its historical heartlands and the numerous consequences thereof, but also for those working in the areas of religion, migration, identity formation and transnationalism.’
Vasilios N. Makrides, University of Erfurt, Germany _______________________________________________

2015/2016 Andrew W. Mellon Visiting Postdoctoral Fellowship - Vanderbilt University

One year residential research postdoctoral fellowship for a scholar interested in participating in a broadly interdisciplinary seminar funded by the Mellon Foundation’s prestigious Sawyer Seminar program entitled, “When the Fringe Dwarfs the Center: Vernacular Islam beyond the Arab World.” The postdoctoral fellowship pays a stipend of $50,000 and offers additional benefits. The seminar is co-directed by Vanderbilt University faculty members Samira Sheikh (history), Tony Stewart (religious studies) and David Wasserstein (history & Jewish Studies).
Applications must be submitted by January 14, 2015. For more information, see our website: https://www.vanderbilt.edu/rpw_center.

Religion and Realism

The American University of Rome are pleased to announce a CALL FOR PAPERS for an International Conference on RELIGION AND REALISM https://www.aur.edu/gradschool/graduate-programs/religious-studies/religion-realism/

Date of the conference: November 28, 2014

Deadline for paper proposals: September 1, 2014

Rome, The American University of Rome.

Religion remains one of the most significant social forces and cultural constituencies. It can be said that religion and religious truths are becoming increasingly important in the so called “post-secular” times, when the sphere of the (secular) social/political and the sphere of the religious have to be re-thought again. The relevancy of religious truths and the way they structure our understanding of “reality” overcomes the sphere of theology and particular religious practices. Religion, truth, and reality, and the way these concepts are approached and understood, continue to be vital for a broader cultural discourse as well, from philosophy and science, to politics, mass media and show business.

“Realism,” on the other hand, is usually understood as a position and method, which is opposite to “idealism” and the “imaginary.” “Realism”
implies a certain way of approaching the reality and truth. Looking from a positivistic perspective, many would find it difficult to associate concepts of “realism” or “truth” with phenomena such as religion.
However, the experience of the post-modern times has taught us that relations between the “reality,” “truth,” “knowledge” and “interpretation” are far more complex, and that even the purest “fiction” is sometimes capable of being more effective (and therefore more “real”) in influencing our lives and in structuring the world in which we live, than most of the things that are directly exposed to our sensuous experience and rational reflection. On the other hand, we have also learned from the experience of modernity that certain metaphysical narratives, and their claims for “absolute truth” and “absolute reality,” could be very dangerous in their practical, social and political manifestations.

The conference seeks to explore philosophical, social, political, and theological dimensions of religion and realism. The themes and subjects for paper proposals include (but are not limited to) the following:

Secularism, post-secularism, new religiosity Religion and reality Religion and truth Religion and subversion Religion and political reality Religion and economic “realisms”
Absolute “truths” and social/political freedom Ultimate truth: tyranny or liberation? Realism as epistemology
Realism - the political dimension
Realism - the aesthetic dimension
Realism - the religious/theological
Realism and the “New Realism”
Understanding metaphysical, physical and social “reality”
Reality and creativity
Reality and religion: the need for interpretation or for a social change? Power, reality and knowledge

Submitting proposals: English will be the working language of the conference. Paper proposals (abstracts) should contain no more than 250 words.

There will be no conference fee for speakers. All presented papers will be published in the conference proceedings.

Abstracts, together with a short CV (not to exceed 1800 characters) should be sent no later than September 1, 2014 to: religionrealism@gmail.com _______________________________________________