Citizenship and Religion: A Fundamental Challenge for Democracy [Paperback]

This book explores the relationship between religion and citizenship from a culturally diverse group of contributors, in the context of the developing tendency towards fundamentalist and conflicting religious beliefs in European, North African, and Middle Eastern societies. 

 

The chapters provide an alternative narrative of the role of religion, presenting diverse lived shades of citizenship, as well as accounting for issues of gender equality, minority rights, violence, identity, education, and secularisation. As the renewed role of religious institutions is increasing in Europe and elsewhere, the contributors interrogate the experience of belonging, public policy, welfare services and religious education, highlighting how cooperation between citizenship and religion is necessary in a democratic regime. The research will be of interest to students and scholars across sociology, international relations, and religious studies.

1. Introduction: Citizenship, Religion and Moral Values.- Part I. Our Struggles with Citizenship, Religion and Secularism.- 2. Citizenship and Religion: A British Perspective.- 3. Citizenship, Secularism and Religion: A 'Triangle' in Permanent Tension.- 4. How is it to be Muslim in France?.- 5. Are Algerian Women Full Citizens?.- 6. Citizenship under Occupation.- 7. 'Ecumenical' Citizenships and Belonging.- Part II. Is Religion a Resource or a Barrier for Active Citizenship?.- 8. It's the Culture, Stupid! Cultures Maintain a Strong Hold on their Members.- 9. The Elusiveness of the Word 'Citizenship' in Connection to Religion.- 10. Daughters Against Fathers: How Islam Builds a New Social Fabric in Contemporary Algeria.- 11. French Youth and Secularism: Towards a Social Polarisation.- 12. The Place of Islam within a Secular France and Europe: How to Avoid the Traps of the So-Called Islamic Extremism.- 13. 'Islam Does Not Belong to Germal_