Ebook
Drawing on research funded by the European Commission, this book explores how religious diversity has been, and continues to be, represented in cultural contexts in Western Europe, particularly to teenagers: in textbooks, museums and exhibitions, popular youth culture including TV and online, as well as in political speech.
Topics include the findings from focus group interviews with teenagers in schools across Europe, the representation of minority religions in museums, migration and youth subculture.
Critically assesses different ways in which religious diversity in Europe - past and present - is represented across different cultural contexts and media.
The first book to focus on cultural representations of religious diversity as opposed to sociological studies
Comparative approach provides new insights
Covers a wide range of cultural contexts, popular culture and media, including textbooks, museums and exhibitions
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Religious diversity in Europe: Mediating the past to the young,Patrick Pasture
1. Religious Diversity in Europe: The Challenges of Past and Present, Patrick Pasture (KU Leuven, Belgium), Christophe Schellekens (University of Utrecht, the Netherlands)
2. Views of the Young: Reflections on the Basis of European Pilot Studies,John Maiden (Open University, UK); Stefanie Sinclair (Open University, UK); Päivi Salmesvuori (University of Helsinki, UK); Karel van Nieuwenhuyse (KU Leuven, Belgium) and John Wolffe (Open University, UK)
3. Representing European Religious Diversity in Textbooks for History Education,Madis Maasing (University of Tartu, Estonia), Karel van Nieuwenhuyse (KU Leuven, Belgium) and Laura Galian (University of Granada, Spain)
4. Society exhibited: Museums, religions and representation,Marija Manasievska (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia); Merve Reyhan Kayikci (University of Granada, University of Grenada, Spain),Tamara Sztyma-Knasiecka (University of Warsaw, Poland) and Naum Trajanovski (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia)
5. Religious diversity and generation Z: TV series and YouTube as instruments to promote religious toleration and peace in popular culture,Mikko Ketola (University of Helsinki, Finland), Ivan Stefanovski (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia), Kaarel Kuurmaa (University of Tartu, Estonia) and Riho Altnurme (University of Tartu, Estonia).
6. Refugees and the Politics of Memory: Political Discourses of Religious Toleration and Peace, Laura Galian (University of Granada, Spain), John Maiden (Open University, UK), Stefanie Sinclair (Open University, UK), and Árpád Welker (University of Helsinki, Finland)
7. Memory Regimes and Commemorative Practices of the Good Friday Agreement (1998) and the Ohrid Framework Agreement (2001), Lidija Georgieva (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia), Naum Trajanovski (Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Macedonia) and John Wolffe (Open University, UK)
8. The Semantics of Religious pluralism in the Islamic tradition in late al-Andalus and in contemporary Islamic transnationalism,Nadia Hindi, Maria Dolores Rodríguez Gómez (University of Grenada, Spain) and Antonio Peláez Rovira (University of Granada, Spain)
9. From Dialogue to Peace: Organizations for Interreligious and Interconvictional Dialogue in Europe, Elina Kuokkanen and Patrick Pasture (KU Leuven, Belgium)
10. Religious Tolerance in the New Spirituality Subculture: The Estonian Case, Lea Altnurme (University of Tartu, Estonia)
Bibliography
Index
The claim that opinions are more trustable than knowledge is vividly present in small sectors of European society. The few sectors unified by a denial of science and its consequences become a crowd when they look to religious diversity: in the “secular” society, many prefer opinions shaped by narrow experience and unverified internet sources to scientific knowledge. This important book offers a remedy for this dangerous approach. The authors identify the fears and the foundational myths of issues, which can be managed only through fresh knowledge.
An important international and interdisciplinary book which shows the diverse ways of measuring and supporting a religious culture among young people: those who will manage the issues of religious diversity and social integration in the future.
Riho Altnurme is Professor of Church History at the School of Theology and Religious Studies and Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Tartu, Estonia.
Elena Arigita is Assistant Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Granada, Spain.
Patrick Pasture is Professor of European and Global History and Director of the Centre for European Studies at KU Leuven, Belgium.