This article introduces a special issue of Contention Journal addressing various contemporary mobilizations of civil society in response to the war in Syria and the migration of refugees into Europe. With contributions from Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany, the cases represent a breadth of multidisciplinary approaches and a variety of stylistic standpoints, from statistical media analysis to troubled personal reflections of engaged activist academics. The subject matter ranges from political mobilization against authoritarianism and austerity, transnational philanthropy, the emergence of local grassroots voluntary aid to right-wing populist nationalism. Though diverse, a coherent narrative is seen to converge around the refugee crisis as it unfolds in Europe; one of radical polarization within civil societies and starkly conflicting imaginaries of social futures that claim to preclude the legitimacy of other possibilities. At the same time alliances are being generated beyond borders in an attempt to bolster ideological capacity, authority, and force. This is not a clash of civilizations but the rubber band ball of transnational tension, a strained, chaotic and overlapping global contestation. At stake is the understanding of what a civil society should be.
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Portrait
Diana L. Eck
Diana L. Eck, John Stratton Hawley, Rahul Mehrotra, and Sondra L. Hausner
‘biophysics’, ‘neurophysiology’, ‘nationalism’, and ‘secularism’. Working with Smith also gave me a new perspective on what ‘comparative’ study might mean. It was a crude term, really, conveying to some the idea of comparing this with that, ‘baptism’ with
The Christian Right and Refugee Rights
The Border Politics of Anti-communism and Anti-discrimination in South Korea
Angie Heo
evangelical Protestant networks in Seoul, and I was already familiar with their lobbying prowess and legendary public expressions of right-wing nationalism. What did surprise me, however, was how they poured significant resources into opposing such a
In Religion and Society
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- 01 Sep 2021
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- Research Article
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- 86–101 (16 total)
Sharedness as Belonging
Hospitality, Inclusion, and Equality among the Layene of Senegal
Emily Jenan Riley
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In Religion and Society
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- 01 Sep 2021
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- Research Article
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- 191–202 (12 total)
Introduction
Communities Reimagining Sharedness in Belief and Practice
Sarah Hillewaert and Chantal Tetreault
patience and guidance of the Religion and Society editors as we worked toward realizing this special section. References Anderson , Benedict . 1983 . Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism . London : Verso
In Religion and Society
- Published (Print):
- 01 Sep 2021
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- Research Article
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- 129–136 (8 total)
From the Throes of Anguished Mourning
Shi‘i Ritual Lamentation and the Pious Publics of Lebanon
Fouad Gehad Marei
, violence, governance, pluralism, nationalism ( Geertz 1973: 30) . Moreover, I share the viewpoint that the entrainment of emotional states through ritualized interactions is a fundamental mechanism of social life ( R. Collins 2004 ). Therefore, I understand
In Religion and Society
- Published (Print):
- 01 Sep 2020
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 133–147 (15 total)
Laura L. Cochrane
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In Religion and Society
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- 01 Sep 2021
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- Research Article
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- 137–148 (12 total)
Wrestling with Tradition
Reconstructing Jewish Community through Negotiating Shared Purpose
Chantal Tetreault
literal translation of ‘Israel’, a word that in the Torah stands in for ‘the Jewish people’. References Anderson , Benedict . 1983 . Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism . London : Verso . Barenblat
In Religion and Society
- Published (Print):
- 01 Sep 2021
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- Research Article
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- 178–190 (13 total)
Speaking in Celestial Signs
The Language of Western Astrology and the (Tenuous) Bonds of Occult Sociality
Omri Elisha
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In Religion and Society
- Published (Print):
- 01 Sep 2021
- Article Type:
- Research Article
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- 149–162 (14 total)
Sarah M. Hillewaert
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In Religion and Society
- Published (Print):
- 01 Sep 2021
- Article Type:
- Research Article
- Pages:
- 163–177 (15 total)