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Religions
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Religious Freedom in Multicultural Societies
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Religious Freedom in Multicultural Societies

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 May 2022) | Viewed by 10266

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Giordan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padova, 35123 Padova, Italy
Interests: spirituality; religious pluralism; conversion; interfaith dialogue; Eastern Orthodoxy; religious freedom
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent socio-political studies of religious freedom have shed light on the existing correlations between the increasing cultural and religious diversity of societies and models of national governmental policies guaranteeing nondiscriminatory principles in regulating religion. The degree of pluralization of societies, the types of social discrimination and religious division, as well as the prevailing cultural patterns of secularity, tend to be inextricably linked to the principles of state regulation of religion (Berger 2014, Sarkissian 2015, Fox 2021). This Special Issue aims to contribute to the study of religious freedom in multicultural environments and provide a detailed examination of cases and applied methodologies relevant for a better understanding of the link between state interventions and socio-religious processes at various levels of analysis. We are looking for papers that will emphasize the importance of cross-national and cross-cultural approaches in exploring the concept of religious freedom, applying qualitative and quantitative methods and emphasizing the growing scientific interest in the area of intersecting rights linking religious freedom with other human rights in multicultural contexts.

Contributors interested in submitting original research articles to this Special Issue should send a 300-word abstract to the guest editor at [email protected] by October 15th, 2021. Final manuscripts will be due May 30th, 2022. All essays will be peer-reviewed.

I look forward to receiving your contributions!

Prof. Dr. Giuseppe Giordan
Guest Editor

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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.

Keywords

  • religious freedom
  • religious pluralism
  • religious diversity
  • multiculturalism
  • identity-building
  • human rights
  • social inclusion
  • equality

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 301 KiB  
Article
State and Church Relationships under the European Convention on Human Rights: A Value Framework for State Action
by Moncef Chaibi
Religions 2022, 13(9), 797; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel13090797 - 29 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1437
Abstract
As they impact the condition of religious groups, and in fine that of the very individuals composing them, state-church relationships are an important dimension of religious freedom. The way states interact with religious groups, communities, and associations has a decisive impact on the [...] Read more.
As they impact the condition of religious groups, and in fine that of the very individuals composing them, state-church relationships are an important dimension of religious freedom. The way states interact with religious groups, communities, and associations has a decisive impact on the religious condition of their members, in their effort to develop their religious beliefs or practices. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to explore the European Court of Human Rights’ regulation of state-church relationships. The research focuses on ECtHR’s judgments issued on article 9, either autonomously or in connection with article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It also considers cases adjudicated upon article 2 of Protocol I to the Convention. For optimal consistency with Europe’s social evolution, however, special attention was given to those cases issued from early 2011. The article argues that behind the margin of appreciation granted for states to enact any system they see fit, the Court puts forward limits they cannot trespass. Indeed, the systems adopted have to abide by the values underlying the Convention as a whole. The article argues said values materialize a global framework that unifies states into one European global approach, thus giving a further illustration of the oligopolistic Pluralism that the Court develops in its regulation of individual religious freedom. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Freedom in Multicultural Societies)
19 pages, 333 KiB  
Article
The Lautsi Legacy: A New Judgment on the Crucifix in Classrooms and the Multiculturalist Turn on Freedom of/from Religion in Italy
by Olga Breskaya, Paolo De Stefani and Giuseppe Giordan
Religions 2022, 13(7), 666; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13070666 - 20 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1692
Abstract
The article offers a socio-legal analysis of the recent case on freedom of/from religion in Italy, the Coppoli judgment of the Italian Supreme Court, which grants public schools the autonomy to manage religious symbols. The new ruling is discussed in the shadow of [...] Read more.
The article offers a socio-legal analysis of the recent case on freedom of/from religion in Italy, the Coppoli judgment of the Italian Supreme Court, which grants public schools the autonomy to manage religious symbols. The new ruling is discussed in the shadow of the Lautsi case, examining the shift from the discourse of “passive religious symbol” to the framework of “respect of different sensibilities” in pluralistic classrooms. In doing that, first, we provide a sociological framework for the study of “passive religious symbols” from a multiculturalist and religious freedom perspective. Second, the Coppoli case is contextualized within political, normative and judicial Italian contexts following the Lautsi jurisprudence. Third, we revise the model of “secularism as a method of dialogue” considered by the judges as important in claiming individual freedoms of/from religion in the multicultural classroom. The final part of the article provides a discussion and critical considerations about the Coppoli case, problematizing the future challenges of managing religious diversity in Italian public schools. We argue that the dynamic of freedom of/from religion’s jurisprudence in the Coppoli case endorses an additive model of accommodating diverse cultural and religious identities in public schools. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Freedom in Multicultural Societies)
21 pages, 1262 KiB  
Article
Attitudes toward Immigrants Intertwined with Religion: Comparison of Croatia and Italy
by Teuta Stipišić
Religions 2022, 13(7), 664; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel13070664 - 18 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2383
Abstract
This article seeks to contribute to the study of migration and religion in two EU countries, Croatia and Italy, by examining the impact of religiosity and cultural identification on negative attitudes toward immigrants. In many European societies, the increasing diversification within different levels [...] Read more.
This article seeks to contribute to the study of migration and religion in two EU countries, Croatia and Italy, by examining the impact of religiosity and cultural identification on negative attitudes toward immigrants. In many European societies, the increasing diversification within different levels of society stemming from recent migrations has turned immigrants’ reception and integration into a key issue, whereby migrants are often perceived as a threat to the dominant religion and culture, thus aggravating the process of migrant integration within society. Our article follows recent empirical research on migration and religion, which determined that higher levels of religiosity are positively correlated with negative out-group attitudes. Conducting quantitative research in Croatia (N = 603) and Italy (N = 714) and based on the analysis of primary data, firstly, we assess whether there is an association between negative attitudes towards immigrants depending on different degrees of religiosity and levels of cultural identification. Secondly, we examine the differences of the socio-religious contexts of Croatia and Italy, with a focus on the interplay between religion, national identity, and migration patterns. In line with this, our research shows that religiosity has the largest influence on negative attitudes toward immigrants, implying that higher levels of religiosity result in higher levels of negative attitudes toward immigrants. Furthermore, the results of our research show that Croatian participants have more negative attitudes toward immigrants than Italian participants, whereby Roman Catholic participants in both countries are more negative than non-religiously declared participants. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Freedom in Multicultural Societies)
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14 pages, 302 KiB  
Article
The Puzzle of Italian Religious Freedoms: Local Experiments and Complex Interactions
by Alberta Giorgi, Maria Chiara Giorda and Stefania Palmisano
Religions 2022, 13(7), 626; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel13070626 - 06 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1379
Abstract
“Religious freedom” has many different meanings, and its social perceptions vary depending on different factors, including different understandings of the role of religion in society. In this paper, we contribute to the analysis of the intersections between the institutional definitions and the social [...] Read more.
“Religious freedom” has many different meanings, and its social perceptions vary depending on different factors, including different understandings of the role of religion in society. In this paper, we contribute to the analysis of the intersections between the institutional definitions and the social perceptions by comparatively analyzing the practices and discourses on religious freedom in the fields of healthcare and school canteens through regional and municipal case studies in Italy. Results allow exploring the role of individual actors and local and sectoral cultures in enforcing specific practices in the broad area of “religious freedom”. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Freedom in Multicultural Societies)
14 pages, 801 KiB  
Article
Approach Based on Data Mining for Exploring the Hierarchical Decision-Making Rules between the Generation of Transnational Immigrants’ Sense of Place in Religious Spaces and Perception of the Environment
by Lin Mei, Kun Liu, Lei Xiong and Bo-Wei Zhu
Religions 2022, 13(3), 195; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel13030195 - 24 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2388
Abstract
The generation of transnational immigrants’ sense of place in the religious space of the places they move to can protect and promote their integration into the local society by shaping a sense of place identity and belonging through the positive effects of human–environment [...] Read more.
The generation of transnational immigrants’ sense of place in the religious space of the places they move to can protect and promote their integration into the local society by shaping a sense of place identity and belonging through the positive effects of human–environment interaction and the strengthening of the religious beliefs of the migrant community. China is in a period of economic transition in the post-reform and opening-up era, and has become one of the key testing grounds for observing and summarizing the internationally mobile population. However, there is a relative lack of empirical studies at the micro level. It is unclear how the socio-cultural and physical environment in religious places in urban China influences and leads to the construction of identity and local meaning among transnational immigrants. This study uses the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Lourdes in Guangzhou as an empirical case study, distributes questionnaires to foreign immigrants, and applies data mining approaches to analyze the data. The study also explores the knowledge of the rules related to the religious atmosphere perceived by the immigrants in this environment and their place identity, place attachment and place dependency. This study found that a place of worship that supports frequent and interactive ritual activities and provides a natural, harmonious, and solemn green landscape environment can effectively promote foreign immigrants’ sense of local attachment to the place of worship. The establishment of emotional relationships between religious places and foreign immigrants depends on the immigrant community’s satisfaction with the local physical environment and its perceived judgment. The speed of attachment and identity building depends on the light and shadow environment, architectural colors and materials, natural vegetation and other environmental elements related to the creation of the religious atmosphere that people perceive in the place. For Guangzhou City, which is in the process of globalization and transition to “multicultural services”, this study provides local policy makers with a critical reference for decision making on the creation and renewal of religious places in immigrant communities. The provision of more relevant production and living services for the internationally mobile population, and the enhancement of the local identity of the internationally mobile population to the place of migration are directions that academia and society need to explore together in the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religious Freedom in Multicultural Societies)
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