Urban Governance of Interreligious Dialogue and Freedom of/from Religion

Dear Colleagues,

Urban societies around the globe are being reshaped by processes of cultural and religious pluralization, generated by migration flows and social transformations; meanwhile, municipal administrations, faith communities, and other actors are becoming increasingly involved in the governance of religious diversity within cities. The urban governance of religious diversity encompasses a range of policy interventions and regulatory mechanisms, as well as multiple secular, religious, and administrative stakeholders (Burchardt and Giorda 2021). Traditional patterns of church–state relations are no longer the exclusive instruments for regulating religion (Griera and Nagel 2018; Martikainen 2013; Martínez-Ariño 2019). Recent studies have indicated the centrality of principles of secularism and patterns of church–state relations for multi-level policy interventions in regulating religious diversity (Giordan and Lynch 2019; Martínez-Ariño 2021). They also highlighted the role of civil society actors, including religious groups, being mobilized to establish more tolerant and pluralistic urban societies (Winkler et al. 2023). The relationship between inter-religious dialogue and freedom of/from religion, where dialogue becomes not only an object of governance or a form of inter-religious communication, but a social practice setting norms of more equal and inclusive urban public spaces, remains less analyzed.

This Special Issue invites social scientists to contribute to the analysis of inter-religious dialogue through the lens of two analytical approaches. The first focuses on the role of inter-religious dialogue in the urban governance of religious diversity. The second concentrates on inter-religious dialogue as a social practice of freedom of/from religion. We invite authors wishing to contribute to this Special Issue to consider the following topics for their potential contributions:

• The role of local municipalities and religious/secular stakeholders in negotiating policy instruments for governing religious diversity in cities.
• Good practices and challenges of inter-religious dialogue in public urban contexts (celebrations, events, rooms of silence, spiritual assistance in prisons and hospitals).
• Inter-religious dialogue and forms of public religious/secular expressions.
• Urban histories, social hostilities, and initiatives of inter-religious dialogue.
• Inter-religious dialogue and societal meanings of freedom of/from religion.
• Social representations of inter-religious dialogue within media discourses and citizens’ attitudes toward religious diversity.

We invite scholars to contribute with original research on the topic of this Special Issue by emphasizing the importance of comparative approaches in this research field.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400-600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editors (olga.breskaya@unipd.it) or to the Religions editorial office (religions@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

References:

Burchardt, M., and Giorda, M. Ch. (eds.) 2021. Geographies of Encounter. The Making and Unmaking of Multi-Religious. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.

Giordan, G., and Lynch, A.P. (eds.) 2019. Interreligious Dialogue. From Religion to Geopolitics. Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion 10. Leiden: Brill.

Griera M., and Nagel A.K. (eds.) 2018. Special issue: Interreligious Relations and Governance of Religion in Europe. Social Compass 65(3).

Martikainen T. 2013. Multilevel and Pluricentric Network Governance of Religion. In T. Martikainen, F. Gauthier (eds.), Religion in the Neoliberal Age. London: Ashgate, 129-142.

Martínez-Ariño J. (ed.). 2019. Special issue: Governing Religious Diversity in Cities: Critical Perspectives. Religion, State & Society 47(4-5).

Martínez-Ariño J. 2021. Urban Secularism: Negotiating Religious Diversity in Europe. London: Routledge.

Winkler, J., Haddad L., Martínez-Ariño, J., and Mezzetti G. (eds.) 2023. Interreligious Encounters in Europe. Sites, Materialities and Practices. London: Routledge.

Yours faithfully,

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Giordan
Dr. Olga Breskaya
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• interreligious dialogue
• urban governance
• religious diversity
• freedom of/from religion