When God Comes to Town Religious Traditions in Urban Contexts [Paperback]

Around 1800 roughly three per cent of the human population lived in urban areas; by 2030 this number is expected to have gone up to some seventy per cent. This poses problems for traditional religions that are all rooted in rural, small-scale societies. The authors in this volume question what the possible appeal of these old religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam could be in the new urban environment and, conversely, what impact global urbanization will have on learning and on the performance and nature of ritual. Anthropologists, historians and political scientists have come together in this volume to analyse attempts made by churches and informal groups to adapt to these changes and, at the same time, to explore new ways to study religions in a largely urbanized environment.

Lisa Dikomitisis Postdoctoral Researcher at the Hull York Medical School where she works on a project researching social responses to health inequalities. She has published widely about Greek and Turkish Cypriot refugees and is the author ofCyprus and Its Places of Desire. Cultures of Displacement Among Greek and Turkish Cypriot Refugees(IB Tauris, 2012).

List of Figures

Introduction:When God Comes to Town
Rik PinxtenandLisa Dikomitis

PART I: NATION VERSUS STATE

Chapter 1.Religion and Nationality: The Tangled Greek Case
Ren?e Hirschon

Chapter 2.A Church Lost in the Maze of a City without References
Bruno Drweski

PART II: URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS

Chapter3.The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Urbanism
Simon Coleman

Chapter 4.The Ecology and Economy of Urban Religious Space: A Socio-Historical Account of Quakers in Town
Peter Collins

PART III: URBAN MIGRATION

Chapter 5.Rural Immigrants and Official Religion in an Urban Religious Festival in Greece
Giolãd