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Historically, European churches have played a large part in the provision of welfare. Responsibility, however, has gradually shifted to the state – a shift that forms an integral part of the process of secularization and one that has been readily accepted by European populations. But what happens when the state itself begins to recede – a process that is occurring in most, if not all, European societies for a wide variety of reasons? The implications for welfare are considerable, not least for the role of the churches which begin to resume the responsibilities previously shed but in new and different ways. This book looks at the connections between religion and welfare in Europe, explori...
Religion is increasingly visible in the contemporary world as a complex phenomenon – requiring multidisciplinary research to do justice to the complexity. Multidisciplinary research is however, though lauded by many, notoriously difficult to bring to fruition. This volume takes on the challenge to bridge the gap. Contributions formulate the challenges many have faced, but few yet analysed and put into the hands of researchers concrete tools with which to set about designing and executing multidisciplinary research on religions, beliefs and religious behaviour. In an era where research funding increasingly expects interdisciplinary collaboration it provides guidance on constructive pathways and pitfalls to avoid. Contributors are: Riho Altnurme, Anders Bäckström, Lori G. Beaman, Karin Borevi, Leon van den Broeke, Valerie DeMarinis, Victoria Enkvist, Jonny Långstedt, Annette Leis-Peters, Anna-Sara Lind, Martha Middlemiss Lé Mon, Cecilia Nahnfeldt, Per-Erik Nilsson, Peter Nynäs, Margit Warburg, and Anne-Laure Zwilling.
Grace Davie, one of the world’s most influential scholars in contemporary sociology of religion, has furthered a tradition developed by David Martin and others in comparative sociology of religion and modernity in European and international perspective. Davie’s writings on belief and belonging, particularly in a context outside active Church participation, have contributed important understandings of the cultural role of religion as memory and practice in contemporary European societies. Through her most recent work on new roles of religion in relation to the political, legal and welfare sectors of society, she has addressed debates on the resurgence of religion and the ’post-secular c...
This book is the first history in English of the Lutheran Church in Germany and Scandinavia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. A period of fundamental and lasting change in the political landscape with the separation of the old twin monarchies of Sweden-Finland and Denmark-Norway in Scandinavia (1808, 1814), and the unification of Germany (1866-71), this was also a time of particular unease and upheaval for the church. Attempts to emulate the spiritual community of the early church, reform of the church establishment, and steps taken to enlighten parishioners were almost always held back by the anomalous structural legacy of the Reformation, tradition, and parish habit, sacred and p...
11 Where does Islamic Studies fit? -- 12 From Jevons to Collini (via Douglas Davies): reflections on higher education and religious identity -- 13 A break from prose: defying the boundaries of genre -- 14 An inquisitive presence: thinking with Douglas Davies on the study of religion -- Epilogue: a response -- Index
Religion and Welfare in Europe examines social change in Europe in recent years and how it relates to religion, minority populations, and gender, and their interacting effects on inclusion and conflict. Bringing together international experts in a wide range of fields, the book looks closely at various practices of social service provision in a number of different countries, exploring links between values, welfare, and social change, with particular attention to changes brought about by recent austerity measures.
Presenting an overview of an emerging field in the study of contemporary religion, this book, together with a complementary volume Religion in the Neoliberal Age, explores issues of religion, neoliberalism and consumer society. Claiming that we have entered a new phase that implies more than the recasting of state-religion relations, the authors examine how religious changes are historically anchored in modernity but affected by the commoditization, mediatization, neoliberalization and globalization of society and social life. Religion in Consumer Society explores religion as both shaped by consumer culture and as shaping consumer culture. Following an introduction which critically analyses ...
Over the last thirty years a number of theologians have been using aspects of sociology alongside the more traditional resources of philosophy. In turn, sociologists with an interest in theology have also contributed to an interaction between theology and sociology. The time is right to revisit the dialogue between theologians and sociologists. In his new trilogy on Sociological Theology, Robin Gill makes a renewed contribution to the mapping of three abiding ways of relating theology and sociology, with the three volumes covering: Theology in a Social Context; Theology Shaped by Society; Society Shaped by Theology. Society Shaped by Theology explores the possibility that theological concept...
While reproduction is fairly often touched upon in theological and Christian ethical discussions, reproductive health is not. However, reproductive health is a matter of theological and ethical concern. Discussion pertaining to reproductive health includes a number of debates about, for instance, abortion and the termination of pregnancy, reproductive loss, childlessness, infertility, stillbirth, miscarriage and adoption. Additionally, new reproductive possibilities made available by the development of reproductive technology have necessitated theological and ethical reflection on, for example, surrogacy, post-menopausal pregnancies, litter births, single mothers or fathers by choice, in vit...