Short description:

This book highlights the diverse ways in which religions first and foremost make use of the traditional power and communication channels available to them, like strategies of conversion, the preservation of traditional value systems, and the intertwining of religious and political power. Nevertheless, challenged by a more culturally and religiously diversified societies and by the growth of new religious sects, contemporary religions are also forced to let go of these well known strategies of preservation and formulate new ways of establishing their position in local contexts. This collection of essays by established and emerging scholars brings together theory-driven and empirically-based research and case-studies about the global and bottom-up strategies of religions and religious traditions in Europe and beyond to rethink their positions in their local communities and in the world.

Long description:

There has long been a debate about implications of globalization for the survival of the world of sovereign nation-states, and the role of nationalism as both an agent of and a response to globalization. In contrast, until recently there has been much less debate about the fate of religion. ?Globalization? has been viewed as part of the rationalization process, which has already relegated religion to the dustbin of history, just as it threatens the nation, as the world moves toward a cosmopolitan ethics and politics. The chapters in this book, however, make the case for the salience and resilience of religion, often in conjunction with nationalism, in the contemporary world in several ways.

This book highlights the diverse ways in which religions first and foremost make use of the traditional power and communication channels available to them, like strategies of conversion, the preservation of traditional value systems, and the intertwining of religious and political power. Nevertheless, challenged by a more culturally and religiously diversified societies and by the growth of new religious sects, contemporary religions are also forced to let go of these well known strategies of preservation and formulate new ways of establishing their position in local contexts. This collection of essays by established and emerging scholars brings together theory-driven and empirically-based research and case-studies about the global and bottom-up strategies of religions and religious traditions in Europe and beyond to rethink their positions in their local communities and in the world.

"This volume contains a fascinating collection of essays that scrutinize the connections between religion and globalization in the late modern world ? a topic of interest to increasing numbers of people." ? Grace Davie, University of Exeter, UK

Table of Contents:

General Introduction Sara Mels & Christiane Timmerman PART 1: Global Perspectives on Religion and Politics 1. Introduction: Global Perspectives on Religion and Politics John Hutchinson 2. Islam, Politics and Globalisation: What are the Issues and Outcomes? Jeffrey Haynes 3. The Paradox of Globalisation: Quakers, Religious NGOs and the United Nations Jeremy Carrette 4. European Secularity and Religious Modernity in Russia and Eastern Europe: Focus on Orthodox Christianity Inna Naletova 5. The Orthodox Tradition in a Globalising World: The Case of the Romanian Orthodox Church Suna Gülfer Ihlamur-Öner 6. Good Muslims, Good Chinese: State Modernization Policies, Globalisation of Religious Networks and the Changing Hui Ethno-Religious Identification Maja Veselič 7. When National Histories and Colonial Myths Meet: ?Histoire Croisée? and Memory of the Moroccan-Berber Cultural Movement in the Netherlands Norah Karrouche 8. Self-Sacrifice and Martyrdom in Terrorism: Political and Religious Motives Francesco Marone PART 2: Varieties of Religious Globalization 9. Introduction: Varieties of Religious Globalization Robert W. Hefner 10. Religion in the Contemporary Globalized World: Construction, Migration, Challenge, Diversity Peter Beyer 11. Voluntarism: Niche Markets Created by a Fissile Transnational Faith David Martin 12. Women perform ?Ijtih?d: Hibridity as Creative Space for Interpretation of Islam Els Vanderwaeren 13. Processes of Localised and Globalised Islam Among Young Muslims in Berlin Synn?ve Bendixsen 14. Towards Cultural Translation: Rethinking the Dynamics of Religious Pluralism and Globalization Through the Sathya Sai Movement Tulasi Srinivas 15. Ghanaian Films and Chiefs as Indicators of Religious Change Among the Akan in Kumasi and Its Migrants in Southeast Amsterdam Louise Müller