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The past decades have seen an intensification of debate around migrants, gender and sexuality. For the Netherlands, several authors have pointed out how this has given rise to a form of sexual nationalism whereby the idea of being a modern, progressive country is strongly linked to a program of liberal sexual values and offset against a presumably 'backward' migrant who is 'still' religious and traditional. In this article, the author analyses how these dynamics played out in the controversy around HIV-healings or homo healings supposedly taking place in Pentecostal churches in Amsterdam. Media attention highlighted the theme of homosexuality while forgetting the interests of women. This article shows that the sexual nationalism scheme was also operative here, and proposes further developing existing approaches as intersectional 'post-secularist' sociological perspectives aimed at unearthing the ways narratives of modernity, secularization and sexual nationalism structure attitudes towards migrant and religious actors both in social scientific research agendas and among societal actors.

European societies have experienced extensive secularization. However, the impact of religion in governing people's political attitudes and behaviors persists, which has been enhanced by several recent developments, including the growing salience of religious and conservative values for the remaining committed religious people, the rise of radical right parties that use Christianity in their anti-immigrant and nationalist rhetoric, and the increasing number of immigrants from outside Europe that contribute to the diversification of religion in European societies. This dissertation investigates the continuing impact of religion on political attitudes and political behaviors in European societies under a secularizing age as embodied in those developments. I will inquire using aspects of political cleavage, political institution, and political articulation related to religion. Study I examines how national contexts related to religion (secularization and party polarization on morality issues) moderate the impact of same-sex marriage and partnership legislation on public attitudes towards homosexuality. Using eight rounds of European Social Survey (ESS) data, the study shows that, first, in more secular countries and after partnership legislation has passed, there are more divergences in attitudes towards homosexuality between core religious members and the more secular others, with the former showing more negative attitudes. Second, in countries where political parties are more polarized on morality issues, the impact of partnership legislation is more negative in the general population across religiosity and partisanship; however, this effect is not repeated for marriage legislation. The study uncovers distinct effects of different normative institutions in moderating the relationship between legislation and attitudes through the articulation process. Study II focuses on the mechanism underlying the relationship between Christian religiosity and voting for populist radical right parties in Europe, using ESS Round 8 data. Mediation analysis shows that the factors suggested by previous theories, including tolerance towards immigrants, pro-social values and social capital, hardly explain the underrepresentation of Christians in radical right voters. On the contrary, Christians and radical right voters across Europe have high ideological compatibility in authoritarian and moral conservative values, highlighting ample political space for radical right parties to articulate within for attracting Christian support that has yet to be successfully capitalized. This finding is against Christianity itself being an antidote to the radical right. It suggests that the enduring religious cleavage linked to mainstream right parties may still explain why Christians avoid voting for radical parties. Study III investigates the role of religion in mobilizing immigrant political participation in the context of Sweden, using the 2010 Level of Living Survey for the Foreign Born and Their Children (LNU-UFB) data. Contrasting the theoretical expectations, this study finds little evidence that religion mobilizes immigrants to participate in politics; actually, religious attendance is found to be negatively related to political participation. The demobilization effect of religion is stronger for women, first-generation migrants. Those who have experienced religion-based societal discrimination, especially Muslims, are less active in political participation. However, second-generation Muslim immigrants are more active in participating in demonstration than the first generation, possibly due to higher perceived discrimination. The results do not support the theory on religious organizations promoting immigrant political participation in Sweden, nor is there suggestive evidence for the emergence of immigrant or Muslim political cleavage in the Swedish context.

This piece is a response to Jean-Pierre Reed's review of Bringing Back the Social into the Sociology of Religion published in Critical Research on Religion. Aside from his appreciation for the contributions of this volume, Jean-Pierre Reed's critique concentrates on three fundamental issues in relation to the agenda for a critical sociology of religion we advance: scientificism, interdisciplinarity, and politics. This response focuses on scientificism and politics in particular, since they are intimately related and at the core of this book's evaluation of the subfield.

With a clear statement of the theoretical issues in the debates about secularization and post-secularism, Religion and the State: A Comparative Sociology considers a number of major case studies from China, Europe, Singapore and South Asia in order to understand the rise of public religions in the modern state. By distinguishing between political secularization the separation of state and religion and social secularization the transformation of the everyday practice of religion this volume offers an integrating framework within which to analyze these different societies.

This paper analyzes Peter Berger's theory of secularization, its main arguments and recent developments in general described as the theory of desecularization. The first part of the text examines Berger's theory of religion as the sacred canopy and secularization as the process in which religious symbols and institutions loose their dominance in the contemporary society. The second part focuses on the recent developments in Berger's theory of secularization which is usually described as the theory of desecularization, its main arguments and factors. The third part presents arguments of main critique (Steve Bruce) and supporters (Grace Davie, Danièle Hervieu-Leger) of recent developments within Berger's theory of secularization. The paper ends with the generalizing insights into Berger's secularization and desecularization theories and their application for contemporary societies. The author concludes that desecularization theory should be tested within the societies of the new member states of the European Union; she also emphasizes that Berger's classical distinction between objective and subjective secularization remains useful tool for the analysis of religion in contemporary society.

This paper analyzes Peter Berger's theory of secularization, its main arguments and recent developments in general described as the theory of desecularization. The first part of the text examines Berger's theory of religion as the sacred canopy and secularization as the process in which religious symbols and institutions loose their dominance in the contemporary society. The second part focuses on the recent developments in Berger's theory of secularization which is usually described as the theory of desecularization, its main arguments and factors. The third part presents arguments of main critique (Steve Bruce) and supporters (Grace Davie, Danièle Hervieu-Leger) of recent developments within Berger's theory of secularization. The paper ends with the generalizing insights into Berger's secularization and desecularization theories and their application for contemporary societies. The author concludes that desecularization theory should be tested within the societies of the new member states of the European Union; she also emphasizes that Berger's classical distinction between objective and subjective secularization remains useful tool for the analysis of religion in contemporary society.

This paper analyzes Peter Berger's theory of secularization, its main arguments and recent developments in general described as the theory of desecularization. The first part of the text examines Berger's theory of religion as the sacred canopy and secularization as the process in which religious symbols and institutions loose their dominance in the contemporary society. The second part focuses on the recent developments in Berger's theory of secularization which is usually described as the theory of desecularization, its main arguments and factors. The third part presents arguments of main critique (Steve Bruce) and supporters (Grace Davie, Danièle Hervieu-Leger) of recent developments within Berger's theory of secularization. The paper ends with the generalizing insights into Berger's secularization and desecularization theories and their application for contemporary societies. The author concludes that desecularization theory should be tested within the societies of the new member states of the European Union; she also emphasizes that Berger's classical distinction between objective and subjective secularization remains useful tool for the analysis of religion in contemporary society.

Religion plays an important role in contemporary politics, both as a public and political actor, and as set of values. As a public actor, religion widely participates in the political spheres of European countries. At the same time, both European and non-European societies are experiencing a profound reshaping of their political landscapes. In these contexts, it has become clear that new modes of governance redraw the boundaries between institutional actors and citizens, and create space for horizontal and/or transnational networks. Today, the separation between religion and politics is being questioned more or less radically, and the meaning and the substance of democracy likewise. This special issue aims to offer a wide range of examples of studies focusing on the interactions between religion and politics from different disciplinary perspectives and scientific traditions. Ranging from single case studies to transnational comparative analyses, from sociology of religion to political science, and from the analysis of specific religious traditions to comparative studies, the articles presented offer a useful insight of topics and debates. This heterogeneity allows the readers to have an overview on some of the most important religious actors (movements, associations, groups and, parties in contemporary democracies, such as Christian traditional parties in Europe and the US, Islamist groups in Turkey and in Pakistan. At the same time, this collection of article shows different approaches through which is possible to analyse these movements, such as cross-country comparative approaches, comparison between different cases of religious groups' collective action within the same national contexts or in the same urban area, or in-depth case studies of the specific role of religious groups in a broader national mobilization. The common element of these different contributions is the objective of looking at the complex relationships between religious organizations (both movements and parties) and political mobilizations, and analysing the religious factor neither as a mere effect of conflicts driven by non-religious factors, such as economic or utilitarian motives, nor as essentialist phenomena driven by non-rational logics of action.

Religion plays an important role in contemporary politics, both as a public and political actor, and as set of values. As a public actor, religion widely participates in the political spheres of European countries. At the same time, both European and non-European societies are experiencing a profound reshaping of their political landscapes. In these contexts, it has become clear that new modes of governance redraw the boundaries between institutional actors and citizens, and create space for horizontal and/or transnational networks. Today, the separation between religion and politics is being questioned more or less radically, and the meaning and the substance of democracy likewise. This special issue aims to offer a wide range of examples of studies focusing on the interactions between religion and politics from different disciplinary perspectives and scientific traditions. Ranging from single case studies to transnational comparative analyses, from sociology of religion to political science, and from the analysis of specific religious traditions to comparative studies, the articles presented offer a useful insight of topics and debates. This heterogeneity allows the readers to have an overview on some of the most important religious actors (movements, associations, groups and, parties in contemporary democracies, such as Christian traditional parties in Europe and the US, Islamist groups in Turkey and in Pakistan. At the same time, this collection of article shows different approaches through which is possible to analyse these movements, such as cross-country comparative approaches, comparison between different cases of religious groups' collective action within the same national contexts or in the same urban area, or in-depth case studies of the specific role of religious groups in a broader national mobilization. The common element of these different contributions is the objective of looking at the complex relationships between religious organizations (both movements and parties) and political mobilizations, ...

Religion plays an important role in contemporary politics, both as a public and political actor, and as set of values. As a public actor, religion widely participates in the political spheres of European countries. At the same time, both European and non-European societies are experiencing a profound reshaping of their political landscapes. In these contexts, it has become clear that new modes of governance redraw the boundaries between institutional actors and citizens, and create space for horizontal and/or transnational networks. Today, the separation between religion and politics is being questioned more or less radically, and the meaning and the substance of democracy likewise. This special issue aims to offer a wide range of examples of studies focusing on the interactions between religion and politics from different disciplinary perspectives and scientific traditions. Ranging from single case studies to transnational comparative analyses, from sociology of religion to political science, and from the analysis of specific religious traditions to comparative studies, the articles presented offer a useful insight of topics and debates. This heterogeneity allows the readers to have an overview on some of the most important religious actors (movements, associations, groups and, parties in contemporary democracies, such as Christian traditional parties in Europe and the US, Islamist groups in Turkey and in Pakistan. At the same time, this collection of article shows different approaches through which is possible to analyse these movements, such as cross-country comparative approaches, comparison between different cases of religious groups' collective action within the same national contexts or in the same urban area, or in-depth case studies of the specific role of religious groups in a broader national mobilization. The common element of these different contributions is the objective of looking at the complex relationships between religious organizations (both movements and parties) and political mobilizations, and analysing the religious factor neither as a mere effect of conflicts driven by non-religious factors, such as economic or utilitarian motives, nor as essentialist phenomena driven by non-rational logics of action.

Yovanovich, H. N. M. Religion, politics and challenges of contemporary European identity / Yovanovich H. N. M. // Научный результат. Сер. Социология и управление. - 2020. - Т.6, №3.-С. 136-152. - Doi:10.18413/2408-9338-2020-6-3-0-9. - Refer.: p. 149-152. ; The modern Europe (or more precisely - the European Union) builds its ideological matrix not on the foundations of its own Christian heritage, but on the foundations of agnostic secularism and liberalism, as inaugurated by the French Revolution, which places our topic in the domain of politology of religion

The constructions of 'religion' in general language are seldom themselves in the focus of empirical research. Aiming to retrieve the inherent knowledge that lies within these constructions, this article suggests a term-based textual analysis to focus on the linguistic use of 'religion'. This method invites us to question the unity of texts through an analysis of textual semantics. It offers the chance to ask about the formation of the concept. The article initially shows how this approach differs from comparative and policy-oriented studies by differentiating between criticism and critique. It then develops the idea of a term-based textual analysis. Using examples from the policy field of foreign aid, the text illustrates how much inherent knowledge there is in the usage of 'religion' in political communication and calls for a general reconsideration of the way 'religion' is approached in empirical research.

The most important recent development in American religion is the dramatic increase in the number of people who claim no religious affiliation — the rise of the Nones. In this Working Paper, I discuss the social factors that explain the rise of the Nones--demography, politics, family, technology, a distrust of institutions generally--and explain what this development might mean for the definition of religion in American law. I focus on a recent federal appeals court case involving a self-styled spiritual adviser, "Psychic Sophie," who claimed that following her "inner flow" constituted a religion meriting constitutional and statutory protection. I argue that the case is a close one. Protecting Nones as a religion would promote the important goals of state religious neutrality and personal autonomy. On the other hand, religion has always been understood in terms of community. Indeed, as Tocqueville saw, it is precisely religion's communal aspect that makes it so important to liberal democracy. Granting Nones the status of a religion would fail to capture this important social benefit.

The critique of the theory of secularisation has favoured the emergence of a series of concepts for the analysis of contemporary socio‐religious transformations, such as 'culturalised religion'. These categories constitute, in turn, an opportunity to rethink the process of secularisation from the perspective of historical sociology. Against this background, this article carries out a theoretical analysis of the ambiguities of secularisation in Spain from which a cultural approach to religion ('culturalised religion') emerges and its potential connection to the expansion of the radical right‐ wing party Vox, which became the third‐largest party in Spain's parliament in the 2019 national election. After analyzing this interrelation between 'culturalised religion' and the radical right on the basis of statistical sources, discourse analysis and bibliographical sources, the article concludes by stressing the importance of historical sociology for understanding phenomena like 'culturalised religion', which take us out of the binomial logic that has marked part of the interpretation of secularisation (revival of religions vs decline of the religious) and introduce us into the multiple interactions between the historical past and sociological reality.

Set in a small minority community in South Africa, the Orthodox Jewish com-munity in Johannesburg, this study explores why a person would actively and volun-tarily seek minority status by converting into an ethnic-religious minority group. Taking a social constructionist approach to understanding religious conversion, it is argued that religious conversion to Orthodox Judaism is also a social process of becoming ethnically "Jewish". In this study, two types of converts are considered, namely con-verts who come to Judaism through marriage and converts for religious purposes. Through in-depth-interviews with rabbis and converts, experiences of social inclusion and exclusion, and the meaning of conversions is understood. This study finds that regardless of the path to conversion, belonging and identity are key reasons for con-version, and that it is an ethnic process that serves group and individual needs recip-rocally. At an individual level, becoming Jewish through conversion helps avoid social exclusion and achieves other social inclusions by acquiring membership in new com-munities and by forming new social identities. At a group level, the research shows that religious conversion is part of the group's broader concern for maintaining ethnic boundaries and is therefore an element of the politics of belonging. The research shows how conversion to a minority ethnic group in a plural environment becomes a social means to protect ethnic identity and avoid assimilation. By understanding con-version as the politics of belonging, the research explores the subjective experiences of citizenship at a group and individual level.