Presence of the Cross in Public Spaces
This collection discusses the debate on the presence of the cross in the public space in a number of European states and it considers its potential effects. The analyses presented concern not only the established democracies of Western Europe, but also post-communist states.
Manufacturing Otherness
Missionaries were key players in the “spiritual conquest” of the New World, imposing dominant values while also mediating between cultures. This book shows how Indigenous cultures entered these areas of negotiation to produce their own cultural subjectivity.
This compendium analyses contemporary Jewishness within the constant dialectic between faithfulness to Jewish tradition and culture and adherence to modernity and democracy values. It highlights the contrasting experiences of societies in the Diaspora and in Israeli society.
New Media and the Mediatisation of Religion
New media has transformed religious practice and expression. This book offers a unique, Africa-centred perspective on how technology influences religious engagement, shapes discourses, and enables beliefs to reach a broader audience.
Feminist Insiders-Outsiders
This book examines the Islamic feminism of Nigerian Muslim women. It argues that their struggles are rooted in Islamic texts from the Prophetic era, contrary to stereotypes of patriarchal domination, and shows how they use organizations for feminist changes.
Cultural Identity and Civil Society in Russia and Eastern Europe
In memory of Charles E. Timberlake, this volume by his colleagues and students explores liberalism, Orthodoxy, and civil society in Russia and Eastern Europe from the late imperial era to the post-Soviet period.
Spirit, Faith and Church
Women are represented as inferior creatures or as privileged vessels for the divine. This volume questions how women have negotiated their spiritual roles in male-dominated institutions and reacted to perceptions of their bodies as facilitating or impeding access to God.
The Birth of a Celestial Light
This book examines Iranian women who are neither conventionally religious nor secular, but explore spirituality. It investigates the feminist potential of the “Inter-universal Mysticism” movement for women seeking to transform their lives and construct their own selves.
This collection of thirteen essays built around the question ‘what is the supernatural, and how, and why, has it changed over time?’ gives rise to a clear, comparative and diachronic study of the main characteristics of supernatural phenomena.
Portable Roots
This book challenges the traditional understanding of human development by focusing on identity formation in bicultural children. Drawing on a three-decade study, it explores themes of “rootlessness” and asks how transplanted roots can thrive.
This collection sets out the needs of social services for dealing with disadvantaged groups, and specifies the social services required for these communities and the role played by religious institutions in providing services to disadvantaged individuals.
Soviet repressions and a nationalist focus on Christian roots have made researching shamanism in Armenia no easy business. This study confronts this impasse, helping to set in motion the process of uncovering these ancient and suppressed practices.
The Legend, Lore and Spirit of the Water Horse
This book explores the legends of the water horse in mythology, folklore, and art. It delves into the romance and mystery of water as a sacred, cleansing element and also as an untamed, disruptive force. How are these manifestations linked to the human psyche?
Soviet repressions against shamanism, a recent surge of interest in the Orthodox church, and a nationalist preoccupation with Christian roots makes research into Georgia’s pagan practices no easy business. This study helps to set the process in motion.
Moorings and Disembeddedness
This book follows Chinese international students in Norway who convert to evangelical Christianity. It explores the social isolation they find abroad and how religion helps them overcome it, empowering them to become the modern, globetrotting cosmopolites they aspire to be.