This text highlights key aspects of the religion/church-state relationship/debate, and related hitherto marginal topics. The contributions make clear that there is no clear blueprint for an optimal relationship between religion/church and state.  Individual states and countries are analysed on the granular level for example, to address mono-religious against poly-religious as well as secular societies.  Among others, chapters address education, migration and politics against religion as well as the effect of LGBTQ+ communities on religion and societies. This collected volume appeals to researchers, and students working in religious studies and political science.

This book examines the relationship between human rights and religiosity. It discusses whether the impact of religiosity on human rights is liberational or suppressive, and sheds light on the direction in which the relationship between religion and human rights is expected to develop. The questions explored in this volume are: Which are the rights that are currently debated or under pressure? What is the position on human rights that churches and religious communities represent? Are there tensions between churches, religious communities and the state? Which rights are especially relevant for young people and which relate to adolescents life-world experiences? Covering 17 countries, the book describes two separate, yet connected studies. The first study presents research by experts from individual countries describing the state of human rights and neuralgic points anticipated in individual societies. The other study presents specific findings on the relationship between these two social phenomena from empirical research in a population of high school students. Studying this particular population allows insights into social trends, value systems and attitudes on human rights, as well as an indication of the likely directions of development, and potential room for intervention.

Socioeconomic rights include rights with regard to social security, labour and employment, as well as cultural rights which may be regarded as a shield for the protection of human dignity, especially of specific groups, such as women, children and refugees. The enforceability of socioeconomic rights clearly distinguishes them from other rights. These rights need, perhaps more than others, the support of civil society. Because states have leeway in how resources are distributed, civil society has a major impact on what resources are used to fulfil socio-economic rights. One of the actors in the public arena are religious traditions, respective Churches. Most of them have developed ethical standards for individual conduct and rules for living together in society based on their basic scriptures. All three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are marked by a caring engagement for the poor, the sick, the old and the foreign. From an empirical perspective, the general research question of this volume is how young people understand and evaluate socioeconomic rights and to which degree religious convictions and practices are connected with attitudes towards these human rights. Can religion be identified as a force supporting the human rights regime and which additional concepts strengthen or weaken the consent to these rights? The richness of empirical data contributes to a better understanding how socioeconomic rights are legitimated in the opinion of more than 10.000 respondents in 14 countries.

This book examines the relationship between human rights and religiosity. It discusses whether the impact of religiosity on human rights is liberational or suppressive, and sheds light on the direction in which the relationship between religion and human rights is expected to develop. The questions explored in this volume are: Which are the rights that are currently debated or under pressure? What is the position on human rights that churches and religious communities represent? Are there tensions between churches, religious communities and the state? Which rights are especially relevant for young people and which relate to adolescents life-world experiences? Covering 17 countries, the book describes two separate, yet connected studies. The first study presents research by experts from individual countries describing the state of human rights and neuralgic points anticipated in individual societies. The other study presents specific findings on the relationship between these two social phenomena from empirical research in a population of high school students. Studying this particular population allows insights into social trends, value systems and attitudes on human rights, as well as an indication of the likely directions of development, and potential room for intervention.

This volume presents the most recent joint study of the research group Religion and Human Rights. This text is comprised of studies carried out in twelve countries and divided into three parts according to their respective tree continents. Almost 10,000 youths have participated and all chapters deal with the question of whether and to what extent religious or worldview convictions hinder or favor the support of human rights. Studies are comparative on multiple levels because of the many religious groups and countries. The studies take into account personal, religious and socio-cultural differences, showing the ambivalent role of religion in the striving to make the world safer, more democratic, just, and compassionate thru human rights. This text appeals to students and researchers.

Die religiose Vielfalt hat in Europa in den letzten Jahren stark zugenommen. Dazu haben nicht nur Prozesse der Pluralisierung innerhalb des Christentums sowie das zunehmende Interesse an Formen alternativer New-Age Spiritualitat beigetragen. Bunter geworden ist das religiose Spektrum vor allem durch die Zuwanderung von Menschen mit nichtchristlicher Identitat aus allen Teilen der Welt. Die leitenden Fragen dieses Bandes lauten:

- Was ist religioser Pluralismus und wie lasst er sich sozialwissenschaftlich erfassen?

- Unter welchen sozialen und politisch-rechtlichen Bedingungen ist die Emergenz religiosen Pluralismus wahrscheinlich?

- Worin bestehen die sozialen Folgen religiosen Pluralismus in der Zivilgesellschaft

und auf dem religiosen Feld?

- Wie wird gesellschaftlich mit Phanomenen religioser Pluralitat umgegangen?Zur Beantwortung dieser Fragen bedienen sich die Beitrage des Bandes der Methoden der quantitativen Sozialforschung."

"Dreaming the Land: Theologies of Resistance and Hope" is a theme that testifies to the contextual nature of practical theology. This present volume contains a collection of essays with international contributions to practical theology. In their original form, these essays were presented at the seventh biennial conference of the International Academy of Practical Theology (IAPT) held at Brisbane/Australia in June 2005. The dreaming and the land are both concepts central to the thinking of the aboriginal peoples of Australia. The dreaming encompasses the creative and life-giving forces which govern and express the lifeworld of these same people, while the land is sacred space where the spirits of the ancestors of all human, plant, and animal life are represented. The theme is the common thread in the first part of the book. Here, the search for theologies of resistance and hope is related to experiences in the southern hemisphere, to issues of the land as a concept for practical theology, and to questions of human rights.

"Hans-Georg Ziebertz" is professor at the University of Wuerzburg (Germany). "Friedrich Schweitzer" is professor at the University of Tubingen (Germany).