list of all NORFACE projects on religion
In our research 'Religious Sources of Solidarity' (EURESOURCE) we address the question to what extent religion in Europe re-emerges as a social force from both comparative and cross-national angles and from real-life perspectives as clarified by focus group research. Religion is understood as religious capital that is socially 'invested' or remains 'dormant' in certain times and places and that varies with regard to its private or public display. To investigate that, we clarify Europeans' religious characteristics in the various European countries during recent decades and sort out if it contributes to social interests. We envisage solidarity to be one of the main interests that (re-)emerges on political agendas at the national and European level. Taking into account the different types of implied compliance, we distinguish solidarity at the intimate domain of family and friends, the social enterprise domain of community and civil society, and the regulated domain of society at large. On the basis of four available international databases that contain data of 22 countries we first clarify if, where and when religion actually emerges in Europe during the last decades and what the respective solidarity characteristics are. Subsequently, we describe the empirical effects of religion on solidarity and interpret findings as the various ways in which religious capital acts as a 'social force' for solidarity in the different domains. We will interpret national differences on the basis of typologies of state-church relationship, type of welfare-regime, and cultural dimensions, while taking into account migration-data. Next to that, we engage in qualitative research to clarify the 'lived experience' of religion and solidarity. By means of focus groups in three countries we gain a balanced insight into everyday life perspectives of our research issue. These in-depth studies will enrich and may correct our analyses by providing 'native' answers to our research questions.
Principal Investigator:
Prof. Dr. SCHEEPERS, Peer, Radboud University Nijmegen, Faculty of Theology, Department of Empirical Theology