Read more
This edited volume proffers a sociological outlook on the challenges contemporary societies face when states attempt to govern religious and cultural diversity and still protect freedoms of and from religion claimed by individuals, communities, and institutions. The collection of chapters brings readers into both theoretical discussions and empirical research. It illustrates how the promise of religious freedom has become a burgeoning social issue at the center of struggles over equity, inclusion, and cohesion in both public institutions and everyday interactions.
The book is divided into three parts: the state's legal and political mechanisms governing religious freedom; the challenges of religious pluralism for public institutions and global communities; social perceptions of religious freedom as an indicator and criterion of human rights culture in society. An international group of authors provide reviews, case studies, and data-driven research for students, researchers and practitioners working in the sociology of religion.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Roger Finke (Pennsylvania State University), Cross-national research on religious freedom: Charting a research agenda.- Chapter 2. Adam Possamai (Western Sydney University), Freedom of religion and fortress Christianity in Australia.- Chapter 3. James T. Richardson (University of Nevada), The judicialization fo religious freedom: A comparison between the European courts and the U.S. Supreme Court.- Chapter 4. Lene Kühle (Aaurhus University), The construction of religious diversity as a framework for claims for religious freedom.- Chapter 5. Olga Breskaya and Giuseppe Giordan (University of Padova), Fourteen predictors of social perception of religious freedom.- Chapter 6. Sabrina Testa (Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités - CNRS-EPHE), Between religious freedom and the secularity of the State: Notions in dispute in secularist judicial activism in Brazil.- Chapter 7. Nanlai Cao (Renmin University), Everyday religious freedom in the expansion of Chinese Christianity in Europe.- Chapter 8. Maja Kaninska (University of Ljubljana), Study on religious freedom, diversity of three social systems - Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia.- Chapter 9. Giovanna Rech (University of Trento), (In-)visibility of places of worship in two new religions: A comparative analysis of heritagisation in Italy and France.- Chapter 10. Marco Guglielmi and Stefano Sbalchiero (University of Padova), Does sharing place of worship matter in enhancing interfaith dialogue? Evidences from congregations in three Italian cities.- Chapter 11. Massimo Introvigne (Center for Studies on New Religions), Scientology, brainwashing, and religious freedom in post-Trump United States.- Chapter 12. Kirill Lapitskii (Polish Academy of Sciences), Changes in religiosity and religious identification in Russia after 1991: A religious economy approach.- Chapter 13. Álvaro Augusto Espinoza Rizo (Bielefeld University), Governmental persecution against the Catholic Church: Reflections on the Nicaraguan case 2018-2022.- Chapter 14. Matteo Di Placido (University of Turin), Narendra Modi's deployment of yoga: Religious (un)freedom, right-wing governance and biopolitics in contemporary India.- Chapter 15. Carlo Nardella (University of Milan), Religious diversity, social conflict and symbolic change: The cult of St. Anthony after Sri Lanka's 2019 Easter bombings.
