Search Results (154)

This article discusses caste dynamics within the Punjabi diaspora in Italy—the largest in the EU—by focusing on the case of the Ravidassia community and describing its evolving relations with the local Sikh community. Previous research on Punjabi migration to Italy mainly focused on issues of labor exploitation, intermediation, and Sikh identity, often conflating the entire Punjabi population with its majoritarian—but far from exclusive—Sikh-Jatt component, thereby overlooking its internal heterogeneity of caste, religion, and class. Despite the growing number of Ravidassia-Chamar migrants in Italy—evidenced by the proliferation of Ravidassia temples and associations across the country—their migratory experiences, employment patterns, socioreligious practices, and inter-caste relationships remained unexplored. This article offers, for the first time, an overview of the history, geography, and identity politics of the Ravidassia in Italy. Drawing on data collected with Punjabi migrants during multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, it illustrates the alternative strategies adopted by the Ravidassia to assert their identity in this diasporic context, focusing on cases in which their relations with the Sikh manifested their complex nature. It concludes by discussing the advantages and drawbacks of each strategy, in light of the history of power relations between the Ravidassia and the Sikh. Full article

Daoist robes in the Ming Dynasty literature underwent a marked transformation from exclusive religious vestments to widespread secular attire. Originally confined to Daoist priests and sacred rites, these garments began to appear in everyday work, entertainment, and ceremonies across social strata. Drawing on a hand-coded corpus of novels that yields robe related passages, and by analyzing textual references from Ming novels, Daoist canonical works, and visual artifacts, and applying clothing psychology and semiotic theory, this study elucidates how Daoist robes were re-coded as secular fashion symbols. For example, scholar-officials donned Daoist robes to convey moral prestige, laborers adopted them to signal upward mobility, and merchants donned them to impersonate the educated elite for commercial gain. By integrating close textual reading with cultural theory, the article advances a three-stage model, sacred uniform, ritual costume, and secular fashion, that clarifies the semantic flow of Daoist robes. In weddings and funerals, many commoners flaunted Daoist robes despite sumptuary laws, using them to assert honor and status. These adaptations reflect both the erosion of Daoist institutional authority and the dynamic process of identity construction through dress in late Ming society. Our interdisciplinary analysis highlights an East Asian perspective on the interaction of religion and fashion, offering historical insight into the interplay between religious symbolism and sociocultural identity formation. Full article

Through a critical analysis of one section of a 17th century Chinese manuscript, this article examines the formation of pragmatic identity of non-elite Roman Catholic Chinese converts, who simultaneously identified themselves as Confucians and Catholics within the culture of “Three Teachings synthesized into one system” (sanjiao heyi 三教合一) in traditional Chinese society. This investigation explores how these converts formed their pragmatic identity during their adaptation of Catholic beliefs and practices into a complex and dynamic context of interreligious interactions. The texts under examination are two essays in the Bian chizhai (辨持齋, Debating on Fasting) section in the Bingyin huike (丙寅會課, Teaching Sessions in 1686), composed in a Chinese Catholic seminarian community established and administered by Jesuit missionaries in Nanjing (南京). This interdisciplinary study not only provides a critical examination of the manuscript, which has not yet been extensively researched, but also offers a novel understanding of non-elite converts’ identity formation through the lens of pragmatic identity theory, drawing inspiration from American Pragmatism. It contributes to our contemporary understanding of non-elite Chinese Christian converts’ quest for identity amidst intercultural interactions between mainstream and marginal religions in 17th century Qing China. Full article

The rapid growth in interfaith peacebuilding has elevated the prominence of religion in theoretical and practical discourse, highlighting its importance in conflict dynamics. In dialogue-based encounters between distinct identity groups, religion often emerges as a key factor, regardless of participants’ specific affiliation or religiosity level. However, studies on religion-related tension typically adopt a polarized perspective, framing conflict in intergroup contexts while overlooking intra-group dynamics. This paper addresses this gap through a qualitative cross-case analysis of two studies, conducted in Israel during 2016–2019. Participants included 28 secular Jews and 28 secular Arabs (Christian and Muslim). Our findings reveal that non-religious individuals from both societies experienced similar challenges in navigating intra-group, religion-based encounters. Participants identified religion as defining boundaries of understanding, acceptance, legitimacy, and belonging within their societies. The study also highlights gaps in mutual recognition, whereby the participants expressed willingness to accept religion as integral to their religious counterparts’ identity, yet reported that this openness was not reciprocated. This gap created barriers to dialogue, weakening potential intra-group cohesion. This paper contributes to the literature on conflicts and peacebuilding, underscoring notable intra-group similarities between Jewish and Arab participants, and offers a novel framework for understanding religious dynamics across distinct social contexts. Full article

While digital religion and digital protest can ideally serve the common good, religious nationalist and fundamentalist movements have exploited these tools to disrupt the social fabric and create dangerous political outcomes. This paper examines how religious communicators within Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and Alternative for Germany (AfD) perceive and enact their responsibility within digital spaces, leveraging the power of “networked communities” and the collective identity of the digital “crowd” to advance their agendas of religious fundamentalism and political conservatism. Bypassing traditional media, groups like the AfD and TLP exploit digital religion to build communities, spread propaganda that merges religion with national identity, frame political issues as religious mandates, and mobilize collective action. Campbell’s concept of the “networked community” demonstrates how digital technologies form decentralized, fluid, and global religious communities, distinct from traditional, geographically bound ones. Both the TLP and AfD have tapped into this new digital religious space, shaping and mobilizing political and religious identities across virtual borders. Gerbaudo’s idea of the “digital crowd” complements this by examining how collective action in the digital age reshapes mass mobilization, with social media transforming how political movements operate in the 21st century. Although the AfD’s platform is not overtly religious, the party strategically invokes ethno-Christian identity, framing opposition to Islam and Muslim immigration as a defense of German cultural and Christian values. Similarly, the TLP promotes religious nationalism by advocating for Pakistan’s Islamic identity against secularism and liberalism and calling for strict enforcement of blasphemy laws. Recognizing digital spaces as tools co-opted by religious nationalist movements, this paper explores how communicators in these movements understand their responsibility for the social and long term consequences of their messages. Using Luhmann’s systems theory—where communication is central to social systems—this paper analyzes how the TLP and AfD leverage individuals’ need for purpose and belonging to mobilize them digitally. By crafting emotionally charged experiences, these movements extend their influence beyond virtual spaces and into the broader public sphere. Finally, this paper will reflect on the theological implications of these dynamics both on and offline. How do religious communicators in digital spaces reconcile their theological frameworks with the social impact of their communication? Can digital religious communities be harnessed to foster social cohesion and inclusivity instead of exacerbating social divisions? Through this lens, the paper seeks to deepen our understanding of the intersection between digital religion, political mobilization, and theological responsibility in the digital age. Full article

Measuring and comparing religious freedom across countries and over time requires reliable and valid data sources. Existing religious freedom datasets are either based on the coding of qualitative data (such as the Religion and State Project or the Pew Research Center), on expert opinions (V-Dem or the World Watch List) or on surveys (Anti-Defamation League). Each of these approaches has its strengths and limitations. In this study, we present the Violent Incidents Database (VID), a complementary tool designed to collect, record, and analyze violent incidents related to violations of religious freedom based on media reports and other public sources. We critically describe the criteria and process for selecting, coding and verifying the incidents, as well as the categories and indicators used to classify them. We also compare the VID with other existing religious freedom datasets and show how the VID provides a complementary picture of the nature and dynamics of religious freedom violations. We offer a preliminary analysis of the data collected through the end of 2024 with selected figures for data visualization. We conclude by discussing anticipated improvements for the VID as well as its potential applications for policy makers, advocates, and practitioners. Full article

This article examines the ideological significance of the Kashmir shawl during Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign (1798–1801), focusing on depictions in Antoine-Jean Gros’ Bonaparte Visits the Plague-stricken in Jaffa and Andre Duterte’s portrayals of French soldiers for Descriptions de l’Egypte. Tracing the shawl’s transformation from an Islamic artefact to a French military accessory and later a symbol of domestic luxury, this study highlights its dual role as a site of cultural negotiation and a tool of colonial domination. Through its exploration of the Kashmir shawl, this article contributes to a deeper understanding of the intersections of race, religion, and ethnicity, demonstrating how material culture both mediated and reinforced power dynamics within Napoleon’s imperial project. Full article

This study examines the increasing Muslim presence in Western Europe, driven by migration, fertility rates, and religious conversion according to recent demographic research. Triggering events such as the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the 7/7 London bombings in 2005, marked as milestones, worsened by the global media and propaganda, have significantly fueled Islamophobia across the region. Countries in Western Europe, like Spain, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, are selected focus areas to reflect social change and overlapping responses to the shifts. This study investigates the connection between rising anti-immigrant sentiment toward Muslims and the media’s role in shaping Islamophobia by negatively depicting Islam as a religion of war or terror. By analyzing the European Islamophobia Reports from 2015 to 2023, this study examines how Muslims are portrayed both as immigrants and through their symbolic societal presence. The study critically analyzes anti-Islam propaganda and the life experiences of Muslim communities by implementing qualitative methods through a literature review. The findings of this study reveal a paradox between Europe’s advocacy for diversity and the realities shaped by political and global dynamics, which hinder efforts toward inclusion. These insights could inform media policies to promote more balanced representations of Muslims and guide societal initiatives aimed at reducing prejudice and fostering greater inclusivity in Western Europe. Full article

The Catholic Church in Denmark hosts several migrant communities, with the Polish-speaking group among the largest and most visible. Institutionally, Catholic priests from Poland serve as chaplains for migrant congregations, accompanying these mobilities and providing educational practices (e.g., family guidance, biblical teaching). This paper examines how perspectives on Catholic scriptural authority differ between the Church’s institutional representatives and its members, revealing tensions between biblical authority, social accommodation, and family values in a migratory setting. Based on 20 months of fieldwork in a Polish Catholic community in Copenhagen, this paper highlights the dynamic interplay of how Church members assess scriptural authority as evaluative engagement in their transnational lives in the Danish public sphere, illustrated through interconnected ethnographic excerpts. This article illustrates how scriptural engagement offers a productive lens to explore divergent notions of Polish Catholic diasporic life and the tensions between transnational religion, national belonging, and moral navigation. Full article

This article explores the dynamic interplay between theological and secular paradigms in shaping contemporary political movements and social justice discourse, with a particular focus on the Culture War surrounding reproductive rights and gender identity. It examines the historical transition from the Judeo–Christian tradition to modern secular frameworks, highlighting how core theological concepts—such as imago Dei, the sanctity of life, and divine sovereignty—have been reinterpreted and secularized. In the context of an increasingly secular world and the resurgence of religion in a post-secular society, the article leverages Eric Voegelin’s philosophical framework to deepen the dialogue on the Culture War and secularization. The analysis argues that modern social justice movements and ideology can be seen as immanentizing the eschaton and moral order, where transcendent values are reconfigured as temporal, political, and cultural constructs for ultimate justice and redemption. By tracing modern concepts of social justice back to their theological roots, this article aims to enrich debates on secularization and the ideological divisions fueling the Culture War, fostering pathways toward a more cohesive and less polarized political landscape. Full article

This study aims to examine how religion in Türkiye, beyond having social value, has been instrumentalized by political parties into a power dynamic and explore the role of the media in this process. Adopting an inductive approach, the study first examines how the boundaries between religion and politics have changed over the years, despite the Republic of Türkiye being constitutionally defined as a secular state, using a qualitative historical method. Then, in order to explore the current reflections of this transformation, focus is placed on the most recent presidential election, held in 2023. News reports about a widely circulated photograph of opposition presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu “stepping/standing” on a prayer rug, used by Muslims for worship, during his campaign are analyzed using the critical discourse analysis (CDA) method. The findings reveal that religion has become a significant component of political strategies and propaganda tools in Türkiye. Religious values and symbols function as powerful instruments, shaping societal perceptions through political discourse. As a hegemonic apparatus, the media reproduces religious discourse in line with ideological tendencies and mediatizes religion as a political tool. Full article

In recent years, the debate on non-religion has gained prominence in the sociology of religion, making it one of the most interesting areas for further reflection on (post)secularization. Drawing on the key works on the subject, this article adopts a postsecular, religion-related field, constructivist approach, with the main aim of understanding the diverse sector that is included within non-religion. This study uses a multimethod approach, focusing on the preliminary findings of a qualitative fieldwork on non-religion in Spain. The presentation and discussion of the results will be structured around two main axes: (a) an analysis of the growth of non-religion in Spain through three dynamics (irreligion, areligion, and hybridization) and (b) an exploration of the complexity and plurality of non-religion, paying particular attention to the blurred boundaries between religion and non-religion in the Spanish nones. Through both axes, the present research will challenge the idea that the rise of non-religion is merely a confirmation of ’religious decline’ and seek to understand it as a nuanced process in which the redefinition of the religious and spiritual also plays an important role, with implications for the postsecular debate and discussions of secularization, social theory, and sociological analysis. Full article

Although Wang Fuzhi is considered an important summarizer of Song–Ming Neo-Confucianism, his criticism of the traditional relationship between Heaven and human (tian ren guan xi 天人关系), especially the ensuing religious implications, has not been thoroughly examined. This essay aims to illustrate his reconstruction of Confucianism’s Heaven–human relationship and its ideal this-worldly religious way of life. He believed that Confucianism’s theory of human nature was based on the vision of man and that it was wrong to establish a static theory of human nature with the perspective of Heaven. The Heaven–human relationship is similar to that between father and son, which is different in form and separate in essence (xing yi zhi li 形异质离) and can only be balanced in a dynamic relationship. In addition, he pointed out that the traditional static relationship would lead to hypocrisy and asserted that this tendency might destroy this-worldly life of Confucianism. He attempted to integrate the different degrees of understanding of the Heaven–human relationship into a holistic and historical way of life through the Confucian classics. This-worldly life is continually aware of its own ephemerality through the feeling of the Heaven–human relationship as well as the transmission of experience. The historical life of a particular this-worldly religion is thus established. Full article

The origin of this article lies in the concurrent existence of multiple religious groups in the United States and the interactions between them. This essay examines the dynamics of religious pluralism through the interaction of two religious groups—African Americans and Jews—in the realms of religion, society, and politics. Among the diverse religious groups in the United States, the growing presence of Jews, bolstered by migration from Germany in the 19th century and from Eastern Europe in the 20th century, introduced new traditions and significantly contributed to the development of religious experimentation among African Americans. The phenomenon of African American communities embracing Judaism exemplifies how religious pluralism and diaspora intersect to produce new forms of religious and cultural identity. These communities challenge traditional notions of both Jewishness and African Americanness, demonstrating the fluidity of identity in diasporic contexts. Full article

Research Objective: This study aims to examine the impact of religious-based family management (RBFM) on absolute poverty through two main factors: short-term vision and uncontrolled consumption among low-income families. Research Methods and Approach: This study analyzed 172 respondents (low-income families) using a quantitative approach with the Amos Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method. A questionnaire was the main instrument in this study of six regions in South Sulawesi. Findings and Research Novelty: The findings reveal that, as an “agent of change”, RBFM has a significant negative effect on short-term vision, uncontrolled consumption, and absolute poverty. These results underscore the role of integrating religious values in family management to curb excessive consumption behavior and strengthen long-term financial planning, thereby potentially breaking the cycle of poverty. The novelty of this research lies in employing Human Capital Theory (HCT) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to elucidate the role of religion in the economic dynamics of family life. Research Implications: This study provides important implications for poverty alleviation policies, particularly in developing value-based programs that integrate religious principles with financial literacy. Such interventions are expected to enhance financial management practices among low-income families and foster their economic sustainability. Full article