The UK government has identified Faith communities as important sources of 'social capital' in community development and regeneration. But religion is also associated with conflict and division. How far is this faith in 'Faith' justified? And how far should Faith communities comply? This report assesses the debate and the evidence and summarises the controversies surrounding the idea of 'social capital' and the place of 'Faith' in community policy. It assesses the contribution of Faith communities to social capital that extends beyond bonding to build bridges and links with others in civil society; and identifies policy and practice implications for secular and Faith organisations and networks. The research in the report encompasses five major Faith traditions across four English regions. It explores the nature and the quality of social capital stemming from Faith buildings, association; engagement with governance, and participation in the wider public domain. This exploration of Faith communities and social capital is important for all who work to achieve well-connected communities. It will interest policy makers and researchers, those working in community development, regeneration and related fields, national and local Faith leaders and their communities, and all in the voluntary and community sectors.

Immigration has become a contentious issue in Europe in recent decades, with immigrants being accused of resisting integration and threatening the secular fabric of nationhood. The most extreme form of this unease has invented and demonized an Islamic 'other' within Europe. This book poses central questions about this global staging of difference. How has such anxiety increased exponentially since 9/11? Why has the Muslim veil been singled out as a metaphor in debates about citizenship? Lastly, and most fundamentally, who sets the criteria for constructing the ideal citizen? This study explores the issue of gender and immigration in the national contexts of Germany and France, where the largest minority populations are from Turkey and North Africa, respectively. The author analyzes fictional works by the Turkish-German writers Emine Sevgi OEzdamar and Zafer Senocak and by Francophone writer Malika Mokeddem. All three deconstruct binary oppositions and envision an alternate third space that allows them to break out of the confines of organized religion. In the latter part of the book, the voices of young Muslim women are foregrounded through interviews. The concluding chapter on the pedagogical tool Deliberative Dialogue suggests ways to navigate such contentious issues in the Humanities classroom.

The book by Magdalena Lubanska examines the role of religious syncretism in the social and religious life of Muslim-Christian communities in the Western Rhodopes. The author is interested mainly in the origins and motivations of various beliefs and behaviors which at first sight may appear to be syncretic. She looks at syncretism in the context of anti-syncretic tendencies, particularly pronounced among the Muslim neophytes and young members of the Muslim religious elite, who are not interested in the local forms of post-ottoman Islam ("Adat Islam"), preferring instead a "pure" form of religion, a class of fundamentalist religious movements rooted in orthodox Islam and seeking to remain faithful to mainstream Islamic thought and tradition ("Salafi Islam"). Lubanska findings offer an insight into the fact that although certain actions may appear syncretic in nature, their underlying intentions are often not in fact motivated by syncretic tendencies. This is the first study to look at syncretism in Bulgaria from this perspective.

In this book David Martin brings together a coherent summary of his many years of ground-breaking academic work on the sociology of religion. Covering key and contentious areas from the last half-century such as secularisation, religion and violence, and the global rise of Pentecostalism, it presents a critical recuperation of these themes, some of them first initiated by the author, and a review of their reception history. It then reviews that reception history in a way that discusses not only the subjects themselves, but also the academic practices that have surrounded them. As such, this collection is vital reading for all academics with an interest in David Martin's work, as well as those involved with the sociology of religion and the study of secularisation more generally.

This book highlights the shortcomings of the present Digital Rights Management (DRM) regulations in China. Using literature reviews and comparative analysis from theoretical and empirical perspectives, it appraises different DRM restriction regulations and practices as well as current advice on balance of interests to analyze the dilemma faced by the DRM system. This research intends to help China establish a comprehensive DRM regulatory model through comparative theoretical and empirical critiques of systems in America and Europe. A newly designed DRM regulatory model should be suitable for specific Chinese features, and should consist of government regulated, self-regulated, and even unregulated sections. The new regulation model might be an addition to existing legal structures, while self-regulations/social enforcement also would be as important as legislation based on case studies.

Can we understand a religion without believing and practicing it? Can we have knowledge about faith? Can people understand those different from themselves? Can outsiders ever understand the world of insiders? Examining insider and outsider positions of knowledge Bryan S. Turner explores what understanding Islam entails. He argues that understanding Islam has in recent years been dominated by political events - the Iran Hostage crisis, the fall of the Iranian Shah, 9/11, Afghanistan and the foreign policy of Donald Trump - leading to western intellectuals and public figures, many of whom know nothing about Islam, suddenly becoming experts. Turner asks how they, or how anyone, can have the authority to speak on this subject. He brilliantly elucidates the questions and problems involved in the challenge of understanding religion.

Faith-based organisations (FBOs) have long been recognised as having an advantage in delivering programs and interventions amongst communities of the same faith. However, many FBOs today work across a variety of contexts, including with local partners and communities of different faiths. Likewise, secular NGOs and donors are increasingly partnering with faith-based organisations to work in highly-religious communities. Development Across Faith Boundaries explores the dynamics of activities by local or international FBOs that cross faith boundaries, whether with their partners, donors or recipient communities. The book investigates the dynamics of cross-faith partnerships in a range of development contexts, from India, Cambodia and Myanmar, to Melanesia, Bosnia, Ethiopia and Afghanistan. The book demonstrates how far FBOs extend their activities beyond their own faith communities and how far NGOs partner with religious actors. It also considers the impacts of these cross-faith partnerships, including their work on conflict and sectarian or ethnic tension in the relevant communities. This book is an invaluable guide for graduates, researchers and students with an interest in development and religious studies, as well as practitioners within the aid sector.

Community development is most effective and efficient when it is situated and led at the local level and considers the social behaviours, needs and worldviews of local communities. With more than eight out of ten people globally self-reporting religious belief, Religion and Development in the Asia-Pacific: Sacred places as development spaces argues that the role and impact of religions on community development needs to be better understood. It also calls for greater attention to be given to the role of sacred places as sites for development activities, and for a deeper appreciation of the way in which sacred stories and teachings inspire people to work for the benefit of others in particular locations. The book considers theories of 'place' as a component of successful development interventions and expands this analysis to consider the specific role that sacred places - buildings and social networks - have in planning, implementing and promoting sustainable development. A series of case studies examine various sacred places as sites for development activities. These case studies include Christian churches and disaster relief in Vanuatu; Muslim shrines and welfare provision in Pakistan; a women's Buddhist monastery in Thailand advancing gender equity; a Jewish aid organisation providing language training to Muslim Women in Australia; and Hawaiian sacred sites located within a holistic retreat centre committed to ecological sustainability. Religion and Development in the Asia-Pacific demonstrates the important role that sacred spaces can play in development interventions, covering diverse major world religions, interfaith and spiritual contexts, and as such will be of considerable interest for postgraduate students and researchers in development studies, religious studies, sociology of religion and geography.

Why is the Golden Rule so central in almost every culture and religion? What is it that drives human beings to do good to others? Are altruism, compassion, and forgiveness natural forms of human behavior, or do they have to be learned and practiced in the neural context of our primal instincts for survival and self-defense? These are some of the questions that lie behind the study of Compassionate Love amongst people of color. Davis explores the patterns and contours of "other-love," which he defines as a selfless regard for the well-being of others. He also examines the basis for distinctive modes of compassionate behavior enriched by "ebony grace"-a theological attribution for people of African descent. This text focuses especially on the historical, cultural, and religious heritage that inspires and empowers such attitudes, in spite of constant encounters with systemic negation, social alienation, and unrelenting racism. How is it that Black families in the home, school, and church still support, sustain, and succeed in the practice of unyielding love-in-compassion? That is the magic and mystery within contemporary Black cultural norms and moral values. This text is a powerful attempt to contribute to the debate on Christian altruism.

Containing some 1500 entries, this new bibliography will be widely welcomed for its comprehensive brief, and for the sub-section profiling principal NRMs convering history, beliefs and practices, main publications, braches worldwide and membership.

Study of some 150 Hindu families (and about 1000 persons) living in Edinburgh, and particularly about the fact that two associations exist among them, one of which is based on activities at a temple.

This Open Access book considers the cultural representation of gender violence, vulnerability and resistance with a focus on the transnational dimension of our contemporary visual and literary cultures in English. Contributors address concepts such as vulnerability, resilience, precarity and resistance in the Anglophone world through an analysis of memoirs, films, TV series, and crime and literary fiction across India, Ireland, Canada, Australia, the US, and the UK. Chapters explore literary and media displays of precarious conditions to examine whether these are exacerbated when intersecting with gender and ethnic identities, thus resulting in structural forms of vulnerability that generate and justify oppression, as well as forms of individual or collective resistance and/or resilience. Substantial insights are drawn from Animal Studies, Critical Race Studies, Human Rights Studies, Post-Humanism and Postcolonialism. This book will be of interest to scholars in Gender Studies, Media Studies, Sociology, Culture, Literature and History. Grant FFI2017-84555-C2-1-P (research Project "Bodies in Transit: Genders, Mobilities, Interdependencies") funded by MCIN/AEI/ 10.13039/501100011033 and by "ERDF A way of making Europe."

This nuanced book considers the role of religion and religiosity in modern Mexico, breaking new ground with an emphasis on popular religion and its relationship to politics. The contributors highlight the multifaceted role of religion, illuminating the ways that religion and religious devotion have persisted and changed since Mexican independence. They explore such themes as the relationship between church and state, the resurgence of religiosity and religious societies in the post-reform period, the religious values of the liberals of the 1850s, and the ways that popular expressions of religion often trumped formal and universal proscriptions. Focusing on individual stories and vignettes and on local elements of religion, the contributors show that despite efforts to secularize society, religion continues to be a strong component of Mexican culture. Portraying the complexity of religiosity in Mexico in the context of an increasingly secular state, this book will be invaluable for all those interested in Latin American history and religion. Contributions by: Silvia Marina Arrom, Adrian Bantjes, Alejandro Cortazar, Jason Dormady, Martin Austin Nesvig, Matthew D. O'Hara, Daniela Traffano, Paul J. Vanderwood, Mark Overmyer-Velazquez, Pamela Voekel, and Edward Wright-Rios

Religion has long been a powerful cultural, social, and political force in the Himalaya. Increased economic and cultural flows, growth in tourism, and new forms of governance and media, however, have brought significant changes to the religious traditions of the region in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This book presents detailed case studies of lived religion in the Himalaya in this context of rapid change to offer intra-regional perspectives on the ways in which lived religions are being re-configured or re-imagined. Based on original fieldwork, this book documents understudied forms of religion in the region and presents unique perspectives on the phenomenon and experience of religion, discussing why, when, and where practices, discourses, and the category of religion itself, are engaged by varying communities in the region. It yields fruitful insights into both the religious traditions and lived human experiences of Himalayan peoples in the modern era. Presenting new research and perspectives on the Himalayan region, this book should be of interest to students and scholars of South Asian Studies, Religious Studies, and Modernity.

The most recent addition to the Key Issues on Diverse College Students series bridges theory to practice in order to help student affairs and higher education professionals understand the needs and experiences of religious minorities on college campuses. Religious Minority Students in Higher Education explores existing literature and research on religious minorities on American college campuses, discusses the challenges and needs of religious minorities on campus, and provides best practices and recommendations. Providing a foundational, nuanced approach to religious minorities in the American college context, this important resource will help educators at colleges and universities promote religious pluralism and tolerance to support student learning outcomes and campus inclusion among students of diverse religious backgrounds.

Women Waldensians have been almost written out of studies of the heretical sect, but are here shown to have played a full role within it, regardless of gender. Agnes and Huguette were two Waldensian women who were interrogated by the inquisitional court of Pamiers, in southern France, in 1319 and subsequently burnt at the stake for their heretical beliefs. Shahar uses the records of their inquisition as a basis for an examination of the Waldensian sect's attitude towards its women members, and their role within the sect, comparing their lives with women in the Catholic church and in other sects. She finds that ina persecuted voluntary group such as the Waldensians, gender was largely immaterial, subordinate to the fervent religious commitment of the members; nor did the court of inquisition distinguish between male and female, subjectingheretics of either sex to the same horrible punishment. This is the first book-length treatment of women Waldensians, who have been almost written out of studies of the sect, but are here shown to have played a full role within it. It throws light on women and gender in medieval society as well as on one of the main heretical movements in France in the early fourteenth century. SHULAMITH SHAHAR is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History, TelAviv University.

Diversity and the Common Good: Civil Society, Religion, and Catholic Sisters in a Small City examines how Catholic Sisters and their congregations have been critical nodes in religious and civil networks, investing their social capital to address one of the most pressing issues facing American communities today: diversity. "Bluffton," situated in America's heartland, is revealed as a community that has confronted racism of the ugliest kind and chosen to work toward a good society for its citizens, driven by the concerted efforts of its Catholic Sisters and highly committed civic and religious actors. Blending quantitative and qualitative data collected over three years and scholarship on civil society, Meg Wilkes Karraker's narrative style engages scholars from sociology, political science, public administration, and religious, but also speaks to community leaders and citizens seeking to understand how they can act on behalf of the common good in their own communities. Notably, Diversity and the Common Good tells the story of a community that "works!" Given recent criticisms of American Sisters by the Vatican, this story of the great good done by Sisters must be told now.

Geeks, hackers and gamers share a common 'geek culture', whose members are defined and define themselves mainly in terms of technology and rationality. The members of geek culture produce and circulate stories to express who they are and to explain and justify what they do. Geek storytelling draws on plots and themes from the wider social and cultural context in which geeks live. The author surveys many stories of heated exchanges and techno-tribal conflicts that date back to the earliest days of personal computing, which construct the "self" and the "enemy", and express and debate a range of political positions. Geek and Hacker Stories will be of interest to students of digital social science and media studies. Both geeky and non-technical readers will find something of value in this account.

Historically, the United States has been viewed by generations of immigrants as the land of opportunity, where through hard work one can prosper and make a better life. The American Dream is perhaps the United States' most common export. For many Americans, though, questions remain about whether the American Dream can be achieved in the twenty-first century. Americans, faced with global competition and increased social complexity, wonder whether their dwindling natural resources, polarized national and local politics, and often unregulated capitalism can support the American Dream today. This book examines the ideas and experiences that have formed the American Dream, assesses its meaning for Americans, and evaluates its prospects for the future.

This edited collection carries out an extensive coverage of the sociology of arts' most characteristic thematic areas (production, creation, the artwork, and reception) across an important range of artistic fields, from the most traditional to the more unusual. It makes an argument for the theoretical creativity and empirical expansion that characterizes the study of contemporary sociology of the arts. Such creativity is present in the increasingly predominant approach to a sociology of the arts in action, in all areas of inquiry within the discipline. The range of theoretical paradigms evoked is rich, analysing several of the most important theoretical frameworks currently handled in the discipline (Bourdieu, Becker, Peterson, ANT), and combining them with the works of many other influential contemporary specialists (De Nora, Hennion, Lamont, Menger and Born et al.). The book also establishes links to less known theoretical frameworks and some from different fields including economic sociology,microsociology, ethnomethodology, semiotics, and cultural history. The volume argues that Spanish-speaking scholars are now at the forefront of new developments in the field of the sociology of the arts, and is the first effort to gather research by these influential Spanish-language scholars in a single volume for an English-language audience.

Although Indonesia is generally considered to be a Muslim state, and is indeed the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, it has a sizeable Christian minority as a legacy of Dutch colonialism, with Christians often occupying relatively high social positions. This book examines the management of religion in Indonesia. It discusses how Christianity has developed in Indonesia, how the state, though Muslim in outlook and culture, is nevertheless formally secular, and how the principal Christian church, the Java Christian Church, has adapted its practices to fit local circumstances. It examines religious violence and charts the evolution of the state's religious policies, analysing in particular the impact of the 1974 Marriage Law showing how it enabled extensive state regulation, but how in practice, rather than reinforcing religious divisions, inter-religious marriage, involving the conversion of one party, is widespread. Overall, the book shows how Indonesia is developing its own brand of secularism, neither a full-blooded Islamic state like Saudi Arabia, nor an outright secular state like Turkey.

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.

This work seeks to provide a fresh examination of the relationship between religion, identity and security in a globalizing world, arguing that in order to address human security issues we must seek a reconceptualization of human security along post-secular lines. Religion, Identity and Human Security seeks to demonstrate that a major source of human insecurity comes from the failure of states around the world to recognize the increasing cultural diversity of their populations which has resulted from globalization. Shani begins by setting out the theoretical foundations, dealing with the transformative effects of globalization on identity, violence and security. The second part of the volume then draws on different cases of sites of human insecurity around the globe to develop these ideas, examining themes such as: securitization of religious symbols retreat from multiculturalism rise of exclusivist ethno-religious identities post- 9/11 state religion, colonization and the 'racialization' of migration Highlighting that religion can be a source of both human security and insecurity in a globalizing world, Shani offers a 'critical' human security paradigm that seeks to de-secularize the individual by recognizing the culturally contested and embedded nature of human identities. The work argues that religion serves an important role in re-embedding individuals deracinated from their communities by neo-liberal globalization.

The book intervenes into the contemporary debate on religion, politics, and economy, focusing on the field of formation which emerges as these seemingly autonomous spheres encounter one another. Empirically, it concentrates on examples from literature, theatre, and cinema as well as a case study of the recent revolts in Turkey where a 'moderate' Islamic government is in power. Theoretically, its focus is on the contemporary 'return' of religion in the horizon of the critique of religion, seeking to articulate an affirmative politics that can re-evaluate the value of dominant values in religious governance and governance of religion.