"Is God Back? Reconsidering the New Visibility of Religion" examines the shifting boundary between religion and the public sphere in Europe and the Middle East. Asking what the 'new visibility of religion' means and challenging simplistic notions of living in a 'post-secular' age, the chapters explore how religion is contested and renegotiated in the public sphere - or rather, in different publics - and the effects of these struggles on society, state and religion itself. Whereas religion arguably never went away in the USA, the re-emergence of public religion is a European phenomenon. "Is God Back?" provides timely case studies from Europe, as well as extending to the Middle East, where fledgling democracies are struggling to create models of governance that stem from the European secular model, but which need to be able to accommodate a much more public form of religiosity. Discussions include the new visibility of neo-Pagan and Native Faith groups in Europe, Evangelical Christians and Church teaching on sexuality in the UK, and Islamic social Movements in the Arab world. Drawing from empirical and theoretical research on religion and national identity, religion and media, church-state relationships, and religion and welfare, "Is God Back?" is a rich source for students and scholars interested in the changing face of public religion in the modern world, including those studying the sociology of religion, social policy, and theology.

Catholic Women's Rhetoric in the United States: Ethos, the Patriarchy, and Feminist Resistance examines the rhetoric of Roman Catholic women. Focusing on women in the United States, the books recognizes that most Catholic women have felt-and been--marginalized by the Church, yet many women still seek membership in the Church because of its professed ideals. Building on various feminist theories of ethos, the authors in this collection explore how North American Catholic women from various periods, races, ethnicities, sexualities, and classes have used elements of the group's positionality to make change. The women considered in the book range from the earliest Catholic sisters who arrived in the United States to women who held the Church hierarchy accountable for the sexual abuse scandal as they redefined what it means to be a "good Catholic mother." The book analyzes women such as those in an African-American order who developed an ethos that would resist racism. Chapters also consider better known Catholic women such as Dolores Huertas, Mary Daly, and Joan Chittister.

Bringing together scholarly but readable essays on the process of gentrification, this two-volume collection addresses the broad question: In what ways does gentrification affect cities, neighborhoods, and the everyday experiences of ordinary people? In this second volume of Gentrification around the World, contributors contemplate different ways of thinking about gentrification and displacement in the abstract and "on-the-ground." Chapters examine, among other topics, social class, development, im/migration, housing, race relations, political economy, power dynamics, inequality, displacement, social segregation, homogenization, urban policy, planning, and design. The qualitative methodologies used in each chapter-which emphasize ethnographic, participatory, and visual approaches that interrogate the representation of gentrification in the arts, film, and other mass media-are themselves a unique and pioneering way of studying gentrification and its consequences worldwide.

This book is about the relationship between leisure and power. More specifically, it theorizes a group of supporters' attempts to control social space within and around English football stadiums. Not only is football a popular leisure form, it is also one which has undergone a remarkable process of transformation during the last 30 years. Advance surveillance techniques, all seater-stadia, rising ticket prices, and a growing intolerance to expressive modes of fandom have all transformed the experience of watching the professional game. Through these five chapters, Ian Woolsey asks how the collective responses of travelling football supporters to these major societal currents and changes within the game; liquid modernity and the post-1989 transformation of English football, are managed via the distinct and oft-competing processes of social spacing in football. An important inspiration for the book is the work of Zygmunt Bauman, particularly his ideas on cognitive, aesthetic, and moral 'spacings' as a social production. Ian Woolsey's powerful and persuasive application of these ideas not only extends Bauman's focus on the 'politics' of power in public space to include a consideration of leisure but in so doing shows that ethnography, selectively conducted and theoretically informed, can provide data for a rich, sociological account of a football world. The book will be of interest to researchers and scholars of sociology of leisure, sociology of sport, criminology, and cultural studies.

Taking South Asia as its focus, this wide-ranging collection probes the general reluctance of the cultural anthropology to engage with contemporary visual art and artists, including painting, sculpture, performance art and installation. Through case studies engaged equally in anthropology and visual studies, contributors examine art and artistic production in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal to bring the social and political complexities of artistic practice to the fore. Demonstrating the potential of the visual as a means to understand a society, its values, and its politics, this volume ranges across discourses of anthropology, sociology, biography, memory, art history, and contemporary practices of visual art. Ultimately, Intersections of Contemporary Art, Anthropology and Art History in South Asia simultaneously expands and challenges the disciplinary foci of two fields: it demonstrates to art criticism and art history the necessity of anthropological and sociological methodologies and theories, while at the same time challenging the "iconophobia" of social sciences.

The people of God throughout history have been a people of exile and diaspora. Whether under the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks or Romans, the people chosen by God have had to learn how to be a holy people in alien lands and under foreign rule. For much of its history, however, the Christian church lived with the sense of being at home in the world, with considerable influence and power. That age of Christendom is now over, and as Lee Beach demonstrates, this is something for which the church should be grateful. The "peace" of Christendom was a false one, and there is no comfortable normalcy to which we can or should return. Drawing on a close engagement with Old Testament and New Testament texts, The Church in Exile offers a biblical and practical theology for the church in a post-Christian age. Beach helps the people of God today to develop a hopeful and prophetic imagination, a theology responsive to its context, and an exilic identity marked by faithfulness to God's mission in the world.

"Spiritual Fitness Training in Valor" is a bold spiritually-directed training guide that helps us to shift from a crisis to Christ. In his second volume of Crisis intervention/"Christ-is Intervention," the author/psychologist expands his spiritual balance training program to include a series of spiritual strength, weight, resistance and cardio-aerobic exercises. Dr. Cosenza shows us how to use "weights of prevailing" in crises. We learn how to handle life's pressures through spiritual resistance training. Finally, we encouraged to walk in our completeness in Christ through spiritual cardio-aerobic techniques. This unique spiritual fitness program in courage and resilience has major applications for crisis intervention by spiritual leaders, mental health professionals, teachers of pastoral counseling, health fitness trainers, and loyal followers of the Lord Jesus Christ who wants to help others.

This book is about change in the Roman Catholic community in England and Wales. It argues that in the post-war years of economic growth and expanded educational opportunities, Catholics born in Great Britain achieved rates of upward social mobility comparable to those of the general population. In so doing there arose a 'new Catholic middle class', likely to be crucial for the future of Roman Catholicism in England and Wales. However, since one quarter of English Catholics were first-generation immigrants who had experienced some downward mobility, it could not be said that English Catholics generally had experienced a 'mobility momentum' relative to the rest of the population. Apart from the effects of social change, post-war Catholicism was also transformed as a result of the religious reforms legitimated by the Second Vatican Council in the early 1960s. The net effect of these social and religious forces on English Catholicism was the dissolution of the boundaries which had formerly defended a 'fortress' church in a hostile world. The book identifies this, inter alia, in the widespread heterodoxy of belief and practice, and in the decline of marital endogamy and communal involvement.

Rather than reconsidering contemporary culture in light of secularization, much of the western church operates with a degree of nostalgia. She has yet to fully embrace prospective, innovative models for what form her task might take in some of Christianity's historic heartlands. Amidst rapidly declining church membership, contextualizing the Gospel for the contemporary West is an urgent task for churches and Christians living in this context. This book seeks an interdisciplinary, international, and ecumenical response to this challenge, uniting historical, sociological, theological, and missiological perspectives. Benefiting from recent studies in sociology of religion, Dr. Gantenbein offers several detailed contextual case studies before establishing correlations between western cultural-religious characteristics and corresponding theological affirmations. This study includes several unexpected dimensions, including the development of a theological aesthetic in tension with the typically Word-alone tradition of Protestantism; a constructive reading of the book of Revelation as a source for contemporary aesthetic missiology; reflections on a soteriology for the postmodern era; and a proposal for an anonymous ecclesiology within a European context where churches are viewed with growing suspicion. With rare perspicacity, Gantenbein's study creatively calls churches to apply renewed intellectual rigor in faithfulness to their common purpose.

This book will deal with arguments that analyze the Vatican policies of Francis, during the first seven years of his pontificate, in relation to some of the most urgent questions concerning humanity: migrants and refugees, the economy, and ecology. The logical choice of the time period for this work is given by Jorge Bergoglio's ascent to the "chair of St. Peter" until the end of 2019. That is why there is an interrelationship between history and the present, since it is written-in part-as his apostolic journeys, interventions, diplomatic actions, and discourses are carried out. To this is added an important quantity of writings of his authorship, as well as of some of his predecessors, in order to frame the question in a historically correct way and to understand his approach to issues of politics and international diplomacy, given his investiture as a religious and-at the same time-political leader

Around 1800 roughly three per cent of the human population lived in urban areas; by 2030 this number is expected to have gone up to some seventy per cent. This poses problems for traditional religions that are all rooted in rural, small-scale societies. The authors in this volume question what the possible appeal of these old religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam could be in the new urban environment and, conversely, what impact global urbanization will have on learning and on the performance and nature of ritual. Anthropologists, historians and political scientists have come together in this volume to analyse attempts made by churches and informal groups to adapt to these changes and, at the same time, to explore new ways to study religions in a largely urbanized environment.

Rik Pinxten is Professor and Senior Researcher in Anthropology and Head of Department of Comparative Sciences of Culture at Ghent University, Belgium. His current research focus is on identity as a central mechanism in cultural and religious learning processes. He has published widely on the anthropology of knowledge and the comparative study of religion.

Lisa Dikomitis is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Hull York Medical School where she works on a project researching social responses to health inequalities. She has published widely about Greek and Turkish Cypriot refugees and is the author of Cyprus and Its Places of Desire. Cultures of Displacement Among Greek and Turkish Cypriot Refugees (IB Tauris, 2012).

From Huntington to Trump argues that the "clash of civilizations," an idea first raised three decades ago by Bernard Lewis and endorsed by Samuel Huntington, has created a template for understanding the world which has been adopted by both the United Nations and right-wing populist politicians in Europe and the United States of America. Haynes traces the development of the "clash of civilizations" from the colonial period through the end of the Cold War and 9/11 and analyzes its effects on society.

Rhetoric, Race, Religion, and the Charleston Shootings: Was Blind but Now I See is a collection focusing on the Charleston shootings written by leading scholars in the field who consider the rhetoric surrounding the shootings. This book offers an appraisal of the discourses - speeches, editorials, social media posts, visual images, prayers, songs, silence, demonstrations, and protests - that constituted, contested, and reconstituted the shootings in American civic life and cultural memory. It answers recent calls for local and regional studies and opens new fields of inquiry in the rhetoric, sociology, and history of mass killings, gun violence, and race relations-and it does so while forging new connections between and among on-going scholarly conversations about rhetoric, race, and religion. Contributors argue that Charleston was different from other mass shootings in America, and that this difference was made manifest through what was spoken and unspoken in its rhetorical aftermath. Scholars of race, religion, rhetoric, communication, and sociology will find this book particularly useful.

This book examines the religious lives of young adults growing up in inter-religious families in India. It explores complex questions of identity, social background, and religion in twenty-first-century India. The volume studies the religious commitments of young adults, analyses the identity formation process for a critical age group, and discusses the interpersonal dynamics within inter-religious families. Drawing on real life stories of mixed heritage - Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Christian, Jain, Buddhist, and Parsi - this volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of psychology, education, sociology and social anthropology, religious studies, politics, and other interdisciplinary studies.

The twenty-first century has seen energy passing between religious and political worldviews, kicking up dust around the identity- and conviction-based fault lines in American society. While many evangelical Christians have developed and deployed a "worldview theory" to describe and locate themselves within the world's ideological strife, Jacob Cook argues this approach has, in effect, compelled those listening to adopt the world's divisive modes of dealing with difference rather than living out a compelling alternative. As a popular framework for theology in recent history, world-viewing has driven its white evangelical adherents to narrate human lives in this world (including their own) in ways that warp Christian identity as a personal, social, and theological reality. Through close studies of key white evangelical leaders who utilized the worldview concept for political engagement and cultural transformation over the last century, Cook reveals why worldview theory is inept for grasping real human complexity and, moreover, how it forms a barrier to genuine life together as creatures in a world only the living God can really "view." In between these studies, he draws from current conversations in psychology, sociology, critical race studies, and other fields to deliver a vigorous critique of the worldview concept and its use as well as its underlying impulse-and to unmask what world-viewing shares with the history and spirit of whiteness. This book is for those wrestling with the relationship between Christianity and whiteness in America, how the dynamics of whiteness have become transparent and, thus, contentions, and where to go from here if one is to follow Jesus.

The immense power the Catholic Church once wielded in Ireland has considerably diminished over the last fifty years. During the same period the Irish state has pursued new economic and social development goals by wooing foreign investors and throwing the state's lot in with an ever-widening European integration project. How a less powerful church and a more assertive state related to one another during the key third quarter of the twentieth century is the subject of this book. Drawing on newly available material, it looks at how social science, which had been a church monopoly, was taken over and bent to new purposes by politicians and civil servants. This case study casts new light on wider processes of change, and the story features a strong and somewhat surprising cast of characters ranging from Sean Lemass and T.K. Whitaker to Archbishop John Charles McQuaid and Father Denis Fahey. -- .

Bringing together scholarly but readable essays on the process of gentrification, this two-volume collection addresses the broad question: In what ways does gentrification affect cities, neighborhoods, and the everyday experiences of ordinary people? In this first volume of Gentrification around the World, contributors from various academic disciplines provide individual case studies on gentrification and displacement from around the globe: chapters cover the United States of America, Spain, Brazil, Sweden, Japan, Korea, Morocco, Great Britain, Canada, France, Finland, Peru, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Syria, and Iceland. The qualitative methodologies used in each chapter-which emphasize ethnographic, participatory, and visual approaches that interrogate the representation of gentrification in the arts, film, and other mass media-are themselves a unique and pioneering way of studying gentrification and its consequences worldwide.

Theodore Martin Hesburgh, C.S.C. (1917-2015) was the most widely recognized priest and university president of the twentieth century. His tenure as the leader of the University of Notre Dame not only spanned 35 years (1952-1987) but also arched across the most tumultuous era in the history of higher education-the late 1960s through the early 1970s. During those years, the university's faculty grew from 350 to 950, enrollment climbed from 4,979 to 9,600, the annual operating budget went from $9.7 million to $176 million, the endowment jumped from $9 million to $350 million, and funding for research soared from $735,000 to $15 million. Over 40 new buildings were also added during his presidency. As a public intellectual, Hesburgh also invested in the debates that defined the mid to late twentieth century. At a time when such intellectuals were in retreat, Hesburgh contributed to policy efforts related to science and technology, civil and human rights, and foreign relations and peace. At the core of his commitment to those issues was his vocation as a priest and his belief in serving as a mediator between heaven and earth. Assessing Hesburgh's legacy, however, is difficult due to the lack of concise ways to access his thought and the nature of his contributions. By highlighting his own words, this volume fills that void by offering insights into how he transformed the University of Notre Dame and addressed the pressing debates of his day.

We live in a multicultural society. But Christians often do not know how to engage those of other faiths. As a result, many Christians hesitate to talk about Christianity with others in any kind of evangelistic way. Jay Moon and Bud Simon unpack the intercultural dynamics that Christians need to understand when encountering people from different communities and cultural backgrounds. Regarding evangelism from the perspective of four major worldviews (guilt/justice, shame/honor, fear/power, and indifference/belonging with purpose), this book demonstrates contextual evangelism approaches that are relevant, biblical, and practical. The authors draw on new research conducted with hundreds of participants that reveal concrete ways to communicate the gospel effectively across cultures. Sharing one's faith does not require attacking other religions; rather, we can engage at the worldview level in order to address people's deepest concerns. Greater understanding provides us with better skills for relational connection, empathy, and effective witness.

Religious Ideas in Liberal Democratic States adds new context to the ongoing debate over the scope of religious freedom, drawing from a variety of perspectives to discuss the meaning of religion itself within a democratic state. This book argues that categorizing religion as a solely private affair is too narrow an interpretation and questions whether ideas like freedom, human dignity, and equality can be truly actualized in a neutral and secular state. Contributors explore the impact of religion, acknowledged or not, on legislation, human rights, and group rights through legal, historical, and sociological lenses. Scholars of constitutional law, jurisprudence, international law, and political science will find this book particularly useful.

Latino Protestantism is growing rapidly in the United States. Researchers estimate that by 2030 half of all Latinos in America will be Protestant. This remarkable growth is not just about numbers. The rise of Latino Protestants will impact the changing nature of American politics, economics, and religion. Latino Protestants in America takes readers inside the numbers to highlight the many reasons Latino Protestants are growing as well as the diversity of this group. The book brings together the best existing scholarship on this group with original research to offer a nuanced picture of Latino Protestants in America, from worship practices to political engagement. The narrative helps readers move beyond misconceptions about Latino religion and offers a window into the diverse ways that religion plays out in real life. Latino Protestants in America is an essential resource for anyone interested in the beliefs and practices of this group, as well as the implications for its growth and areas for further study.

All religions are experiencing rapid changes due to a confluence of social and economic global forces. The modern world threatens the foundations of the world's religions and the cohesive assurances of their societies. Factors such as the pervasive intrusion of globalizing political and economic developments; polarized and morally equivalent presentations seen in the media; the sense of surety demanded in and promised by a culture dominated by science are but some of the factors that have placed extreme pressure on all religious traditions. This has stimulated unprecedented responses by religious groups, ranging from fundamentalism to the syncretistic search for meaning. The totality of pressures and responses is pushing religious people into controversial forms. As religion takes on new forms, balances between individual and community are disrupted and reconfigured. Religions often lose the capacity to recall their ultimate purpose or to lead their adherents towards it. This is why we call this complex situation "the crisis of the holy." This crisis is a confluence of threats, challenges, and opportunities for all religions. The present volume explores the contours of pressures, changes, and transformations, and reflects on how all our religions are changing under the common pressures of recent decades. By identifying commonalities across religions as they respond to these pressures, it suggests how religious traditions might cope with these changes and how they might join forces in doing so.

This book follows the journey of Druze individuals who can remember their former lives and go on search for their previous families. For the Druze, an ethno-religious minority in the Middle East split between different nation-states, such cases and related discourses embody ambivalent bridges between personal, familial, and ethnic identities. The contributions in this book, presented by Eleonore Armanet, Nour Farra Haddad, Gebhard Fartacek, Tobias Lang, Lorenz Nigst, and Salma Samaha, draw on ethnographic inquiries and illuminate the broad field of Druze conceptions of rebirth and group coherence against the backdrop of everyday challenges and recent conflicts in the Middle East and beyond.