Religion and Civil Society in Europe
Religion and Civil Society in Europe

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 Communities and Civil Society in Europe
Religious Communities and Civil Society in Europe

Author: Rupert Graf Strachwitz

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2019-08-19

Total Pages: 771

ISBN-13: 3110641712

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The seemingly vitalizing impact of religiosity on civil society is a research topic that has been extensively looked into, not only in the USA, but increasingly also in a European context. What is missing is an evaluation of the role of institutionalized religious communities, and of circumstances that facilitate or impede their status as civil society organisations. This anthology in two volumes aims at closing this gap by providing case studies regarding political, legal and historical aspects in various European countries. Vol. I provides an introduction and looks at cases in Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as chapters on legal issues and data, and comprehensive bibliography.

Refugee Protection and Civil Society in Europe
Refugee Protection and Civil Society in Europe

Author: Margit Feischmidt

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-09-29

Total Pages: 412

ISBN-13: 3319927418

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This volume analyses civil society as an important factor in the European refugee regime. Based on empirical research, the chapters explore different aspects, structures and forms of civil society engagement during and after 2015. Various institutional, collective and individual activities are examined in order to better understand the related processes of refugees’ movements, reception and integration. Several chapters also explore the historical development of the relationship between a range of actors involved in solidarity movements and care relationships with refugees across different member states. Through the combined analysis of macro-level state and European policies, meso-level organization's activities and micro-level individual behaviour, Refugee Protection and Civil Society in Europe presents a comprehensive exploration of the refugee regime in motion, and will be of interest to scholars and students researching migration, social movements, European institutions and social work.

Development, Civil Society and Faith-Based Organizations
Development, Civil Society and Faith-Based Organizations

Author: G. Clarke

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2007-11-28

Total Pages: 300

ISBN-13: 0230371264

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book examines the role of faith-based organizations in managing international aid, providing services, defending human rights and protecting democracy. It argues that greater engagement with faith communities and organizations is needed, and questions traditional secularism that has underpinned development policy and practice in the North.

Religion and Civil Society
Religion and Civil Society

Author: David Herbert

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-03-02

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13: 135190521X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book presents the first full-length study of the relationship between religion and the controversial concept of civil society. Across the world in the last two decades of the twentieth century religions re-entered public space as influential discursive and symbolic systems apparently beyond the control of either traditional religious authorising institutions or states. This differentiation of religion from traditional institutions and entry into secular public spheres carries both dangers and possible benefits for democracy. Offering a fresh interdisciplinary approach to understanding religion in contemporary societies, this book provides an invaluable resource for students and researchers in religious studies, sociology, politics and political philosophy, theology, international relations and legal studies. Part one presents a critical introduction to the interaction between religion, modernization and postmodernization in Western and non-Western settings (America, Europe, the Middle East and India), focussing on discourses of human rights, civil society and the public sphere, and the controversial question of their cross-cultural application. Part two examines religion and civil society through case studies of Egypt, Bosnia and Muslim minorities in Britain, and compares Poland as an example of a Christian majority society that has experienced the public reassertion of religion.

State and Civil Society in Northern Europe
State and Civil Society in Northern Europe

Author: Lars Trägårdh

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2007-01-01

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1782382003

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the current neo-liberal political and economic climate, it is often suggested that a large and strong state stands in opposition to an autonomous and vibrant civil society. However, the simultaneous presence in Sweden of both a famously large public sector and an unusually vital civil society poses an interesting and important theoretical challenge to these views with serious political and policy implications. Studies show that in a comparative context Sweden scores very highly when it comes to the strength and vitality of its civil society as well as social capital, as measured in terms of trust, lack of corruption, and membership of voluntary associations. The “Swedish Model,” therefore, offers important insights into the dynamics of state and civil society relations, which go against current trends of undermining the importance of the welfare state, and presents autonomous civic participation as the only way forward.

Religion, Civil Society, and Peace in Northern Ireland
Religion, Civil Society, and Peace in Northern Ireland

Author: John D. Brewer

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2011-12

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 0199694028

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Religion is traditionally portrayed as nothing but trouble in Ireland, but the churches played a key role in Northern Ireland's peace process. This study challenges many existing assumptions about the peace process, drawing on four years of interviewing with those involved, including church leaders, politicians, and paramilitary members.

Muslim Civil Society and the Politics of Religious Freedom in Turkey
Muslim Civil Society and the Politics of Religious Freedom in Turkey

Author: Jeremy F. Walton

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0190658975

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In contemporary Turkey, a plethora of Muslim NGOs, spanning the sectarian divide between Sunni and Alevi Muslims, has called into question statist sovereignty over Islam. Muslim Civil Society and the Politics of Religious Freedom in Turkey is an ethnographic study of these institutions and their distinctive, nongovernmental politics of religious freedom.

Europeanization in Sweden
Europeanization in Sweden

Author: Anna Meeuwisse

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2018-12-17

Total Pages: 312

ISBN-13: 1789200350

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Notwithstanding its many successes since 1945, the project of European integration currently faces major difficulties, from financial crises and mass immigration to the departure of the UK from the European Union. At the same time, these challenges have spurred civil society organizations within and across Europe, revealing a shared public sphere in which citizens can mobilize around refugee rights, opposition to austerity policies, and other issues. Europeanization in Sweden assembles new empirical research on how these processes have played out in one of the continent’s wealthiest nations, providing insights into whether, and how, the “Swedish model” can guide European integration.