Migration and Religion: Exploring the Impacts and Challenges of Cross-Cultural Integration

Dear Colleagues,

Contemporary migratory processes constitute one of the most significant forces of social transformation on a global scale, generating profound demographic, cultural, political, and religious reconfigurations—migration reshapes social structures, collective identities, and systems of belonging, while simultaneously challenging established frameworks of integration, social cohesion, and governance. Within these processes, religion emerges as a particularly salient dimension: as a system of beliefs, a repertoire of social practices, and a powerful symbolic resource, religion occupies a central place in migratory experiences, shaping mobility trajectories, identity negotiations, strategies of integration, and forms of community organization.

In contexts marked by increasing religious and cultural diversity, religion may function simultaneously as a source of resilience, meaning-making, and social support, as well as a site of tension, stigmatization, exclusion, or intercultural conflict. Religious affiliations, practices, and institutions often mediate migrants’ relationships with host societies, influencing processes of inclusion and exclusion, intergroup relations, and public debates on diversity, citizenship, and social cohesion. At the same time, migratory contexts foster processes of religious transformation, adaptation, and hybridization, challenging static or essentialist understandings of religion.

We are pleased to invite scholars to contribute to this Special Issue, which aims to critically explore the multiple intersections between migration and religion, with particular emphasis on the impacts and challenges of cross-cultural and intercultural integration processes. This Special Issue seeks to analyze religion not merely as a cultural heritage carried by migrants, but as a dynamic, relational, and context-dependent phenomenon that evolves through interaction with new social, cultural, and institutional environments.

Situated firmly within the scope of the journal Religions, and aligned with the section Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences, this Special Issue welcomes interdisciplinary contributions drawing on sociology of religion, anthropology, social psychology, cultural studies, practical theology, migration studies, and public policy analysis. Both empirical and theoretical approaches are encouraged, focusing on individual and collective experiences of migrants, as well as on the role of religious institutions, public discourses, and normative frameworks in managing religious diversity within host societies.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome, and research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Religion and identity construction in migratory contexts;
• Intergenerational dynamics and the transmission of religious values;
• Religious practices, belonging, and support networks among migrant communities;
• The role of religious institutions in processes of social integration;
• Interreligious and intercultural dialogue in host societies;
• Religion, migration, and public policy;
• Migrant youth, second generations, and religious transmission;
• Discrimination, stigmatization, and religious conflict;
• Transformations of religious practices in transnational and diasporic contexts;
• Cultural security and the challenges of social cohesion in multicultural societies.

This Special Issue aims to achieve the following objectives:

• To contribute to the theoretical and empirical deepening of studies on migration and religion;
• To strengthen interdisciplinary approaches to intercultural integration and religious diversity;
• To produce knowledge relevant to public policies and social intervention;
• To stimulate new agendas for comparative and international research.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this to the Guest Editors or to Assistant Editor Sandee Pan (sandee.pan@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.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Eduardo Duque
Prof. Dr. José Francisco Durán Vázquez
Dr. Salam Al Rabadi
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• migration
• religion
• cross-cultural integration
• religious diversity
• identity
• social cohesion
• intercultural dialogue
• transnationalism
• social inclusion