Legal Pluralism and Shari’a Law

Edited by Adam Possamai, James T. Richardson, Bryan Turner

Published 17th July 2013 by Routledge

Legal pluralism has often been associated with post-colonial legal developments especially where common law survived alongside tribal and customary laws. Focusing on Shari‘a, this book examines the legal policies and experiences of various societies with different traditions of citizenship, secularism and common law. Where large diasporic communities of migrants develop, there will be some demand for the institutionalization of Shari‘a at least in the resolution of domestic disputes. This book tests the limits of multiculturalism by exploring the issue that any recognition of cultural differences might imply similar recognition of legal differences. It also explores the debate about post-secular societies specifically to the presentation and justification of beliefs and institutions by both religious and secular citizens.

This book was published as a special issue of Democracy and Security.

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415826334/

Legal Pluralism and Shari’a Law.pdf

Critical Reflections on Indigenous Religions
Edited by James L. Cox, University of Edinburgh, UK

‘From its inception, the discipline of religious studies adhered to a two-tier framework in which local, oral and ancestral religious traditions were subordinated in intellectual status and moral value to universal, textual and doctrinal ones. This wide-ranging and provocative volume marks a further decisive stage in the demolition of that framework. It will not conclude the debate about the definition of “indigenous religions” – for the contributors themselves engage with each other in that debate – but it will inform and sustain it for years to come.’ Brian Stanley, University of Edinburgh, UK

The study of indigenous religions has become an important academic field, particularly since the religious practices of indigenous peoples are being transformed by forces of globalization and transcontinental migration. This book will further our understanding of indigenous religions by first considering key methodological issues related to defining and contextualizing the religious practices of indigenous societies, both historically and in socio-cultural situations. Two further sections of the book analyse cases derived from European contexts, which are often overlooked in discussion of indigenous religions, and in two traditional areas of study: South America and Africa.

http://www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409445005

Critical Reflections on Indigenous Religions Aug 2013 (2).pdf

Sites and Politics of Religious Diversity in Southern Europe

Edited by Ruy Blanes and José Mapril

Sites and Politics

In recent years, the Southern borders of Europe have become landmarks for the mediatic and academic verve regarding the migration and diasporas towards and beyond ‘Schengen Europe’. In these debates, religion is acknowledged as playing a central role in the recognition of major societal changes in the continent, being object of political concern and attention: from the recognition of plural forms of Christianity to the debates on a ‘European Islam’. Yet, in this respect, what goes on around the borders of Portugal, Spain, Italy or Greece is still largely uncharted and un-debated. With the contribution of renowned anthropologists, sociologists and religious studies scholars, this book critically presents and discusses case studies on the sites and politics of religious diversity in Southern Europe, including the impact of migrant religiosity in national and EU politics.

More info at: http://www.brill.com/sites-and-politics-religious-diversity-southern-europe

Why the West Fears Islam
An Exploration of Muslims in Liberal Democracies
By Jocelyne Cesari
http://us.macmillan.com/whythewestfearsislam/JocelyneCesari
“Based on several years of empirical surveys among Muslims in Europe and the US, the book states that the current political fear of Islam cannot be explained by Muslims’ behaviors as citizens and believers. Actually, most of surveys show that Islam is a resource more than an obstacle in the social and political integration of Muslims in western societies. How then can we explain the increasing resistance to the presence of Islam in the West? Cesari identifies three main reasons that make Islam and Muslims the internal and external enemy of the West: the securitization of Islam due to the War on Terror, the specificity of European secularism that tends to reject religious manifestations from public space, and the increasing visibility of salafism, mistakenly taken as the “true” Islam by non Muslims by more and more Muslims as well”.

Diaspora Engagement and Development in South Asia [Hardcover] Tan Tai Yong (Editor), Md Mizanur Rahman (Editor)
Release date: October 18, 2013 | ISBN-10:1137334444 | ISBN-13:978-1137334442

Book Description

The global South Asian diaspora is over 50 million strong. Many of its members maintain strong social, economic and cultural connections to their countries of origin. They also engage in various causes and institutions that directly benefit their countries and people in South Asia. A global cast of contributors aim to document the various forms of diaspora engagement between global South Asian diasporas and their origin countries, deepening understanding of the opportunity that these diaspora communities are hoarding for development, and providing insight on how to tap the development potential of diaspora engagement for countries in South Asia.

—————————————
Dr Md Mizanur Rahman
Senior Research Fellow
Institute of South Asian Studies
National University of Singapore
#07-01 Tower Block, 469A Bukit Timah Road
Singapore 259770; Phone: 65-65166166; Fax: 65-67767505
Email: mizan@nus.edu.sg  or rm.mizanur@yahoo.com
Website:http://www.isas.nus.edu.sg/

Dear Colleagues,

We are happy to announce that the open access e-journal Approaching Religion has published a new issue:

Vol. 3/ 1 (July, 2013)
Theme: Shifiting gear: new agendas in the sociological study of religion
Available at: http://ojs.abo.fi/index.php/ar/issue/current

Contents:

• Birgitte Schepelern Johansen and Stephanie Garling (Guest Editors): Editorial
• Birgitte Schepelern Johansen: Post-secular sociology: modes, possibilities and challenges
• Stephanie Garling: Approaching religion through linguistics: methodological thoughts on a linguistic analysis of religion in political communication
• Katarzyna Zieliska: Concepts of religion in debates on secularization
• Urszula Idziak-Smoczynska: The theological turn of postmodernity: to be alive again
• Melanie Eulitz: Book Reviews

AR is published by the Donner Institute for Research in Religious and Cultural History in bo, Finland. Its purpose is to publish current research on religion and to offer a platform for scholarly co-operation and debate within the field. The journal appears twice a year and consists of articles and book reviews. It addresses an international readership and, as the title suggests, approaches the field of religion from a broad perspective, engaging contributors from different theoretical and methodological traditions.

New issue of Politics and Religion Journal(PRJ)is online.
Please do put this infrmation at site of ISSR
http://www.politicsandreligionjournal.com/index.php?=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=6&Itemid=3&lang=en          
New Issue
Volume VII (No. 1) – Spring 2013.

Table of contents
The word of guest editor

TOPIC OF THIS ISSUE
POLITICS AND RELIGION IN CONTEMPORARY INDIA

C.N. Venugopal
Polity, religion and Secularism in India: A Study of Interrelationships
Anantna Kumar Giri
The  Politics of Religion and the Complex Spirituality of Religious Encounters and Co – Realizations: The Multiverse of Hindu Engagement with Christianity in India
Paramjit S. Judge
Community within Community: Politics of Exclusion in the Construction of Sikh Identity
Ashish Saxena and Vijaylaxmi Saxena
Religious Landscape, Low Caste Hindus and the Identity Politics: Configuration of Socio – Religious Space for Weaker Sections in Jammu City, J&K (India)
Ajay I Choudhary
Buddhist Identity: A Case Study of Buddhist Women’s Narratives in Nagpur City
Ramanuj Ganguly
Social Dynamics in a Religious Milieu: The Sevayats of the Jagannath Temple at Puri
Susan Visvanathan
Sacred rivers: Energy Resources and People’s Power

ANALYSES
Jerold Waltman
Church Autonomy, Sexual Orientation, and Employment Policy in Britain: A legislative History of the Employment Provisions of the Equality Act 2010
Marko Nikolić and Duško Dimitrijević
”Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC)” in Former Yugoslav State
 
REVIEWS, CRITICAL VIEWS AND POLEMICS
Sunčica Mitrović
The Problems of Politology of Religion

The following special issue of International Migration may be of interest to readers:

International Migration Special Issue:
Incorporating Faith: Religion and Immigrant Incorporation in the West
June 2013 (Volume 51, Issue 3)

Guest editor: Phillip Connor

Articles include:
God Can Wait – New Migrants in Germany Between Early Adaptation and Religious ReorganizationClaudia Diehl and Matthias Koenig
God Bless Our Children? The Role of Generation, Discrimination and Religious Context for Migrants in Europe Koen Van der Bracht, Bart Van de Putte and Pieter-Paul Verhaeghe
Intergenerational Change in Religious Salience Among Immigrant Families in Four European Countries
Konstanze Jacob and Frank Kalter
Piety in a Secular Society: Migration, Religiosity, and Islam in Britain
Valerie A. Lewis and Ridhi Kashyap
Intermarriage Attitudes Among Minority and Majority Groups in Western Europe: The Role of Attachment to the Religious In-Group
Sarah Carol
Religious Dimensions of Contexts of Reception: Comparing Two New England Cities
Wendy Cadge, Peggy Levitt, Bernadette Nadya Jaworsky and Casey Clevenger
Religion as A Context of Reception: The Case of Haitian Immigrants in Miami, Montreal and Paris
Margarita A. Mooney

Nancy Davis and Robert Robinson’s
Claiming Society for God:

Religious Movements and Social Welfare in Egypt, Israel, Italy, and the United States
(Indiana University Press, 2012)
has been awarded the gold medal in the Religion category of the Independent Publishers Book Awards, which recognize books by university and independent presses. The book also won the Scholarly Achievement Award of the North Central Sociological Association. The book focuses on common strategies used by religiously orthodox (what some would call “fundamentalist”) movements around the world. Rather than using armed struggle or terrorism, as much of post-9/11 thinking suggests, these movements use a patient, under-the-radar strategy of taking over civil society. Claiming Society for God tells the stories of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, the Sephardi Torah Guardians or Shas in Israel, Comunione e Liberazione in Italy, and the Salvation Army in the United States, showing how these movements, grounded in a communitarian theology, are building massive grassroots networks of religiously based social service agencies, hospitals and clinics, rotating credit societies, schools, charitable organizations, worship centers, and businesses. These networks are already being called states within states, surrogate states, or parallel societies, and in Egypt have now brought the Muslim Brotherhood to control of parliament and the presidency. This bottom-up, entrepreneurial strategy is aimed at nothing less than making religion the cornerstone of society.

Show More<http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/0253002389>

The Facebook page for the book, which includes news stories on orthodox movements and study questions for the book is at http://www.facebook.com/ClaimingSocietyForGod.

Islam and Society: Sociological Explorations
Riaz Hassan
Paperback $59.99

Sociological Explorations
The central focus of this volume is to explore and highlight the nexus between the ideology of Islam and social and cultural milieus with the aim of reconceptualising the sacred as a socially constructed reality and not a transcendental supernatural phenomenon. From this perspective, human agency and society become the main focus for shaping, perpetuating and institutionalising religious beliefs, ideas and practices, opening up space for empirical and sociological analyses of religious phenomena. The seven essays in this volume seek to explore and examine some of the key debates in contemporary sociology of Islam. The topics explored are: social factors in the origins of Islam; social theory and Muslim society; Islam and politics in South Asia; Muslim piety; anti-Semitism; the social foundations of Muhammad’s prophetic mission, with a special reference to Arab historical memory and the role of his first wife Khadija bint Khuwaylid; and the barriers to social inclusion of Australian Muslims in Australian society.

About the author
Professor Riaz Hassan has published extensively on Muslim societies in an academic career that has spanned more than 40 years.
Publisher Melbourne University Press
See more at: https://www.mup.com.au/items/9780522862560#sthash.TGZeQ1zG.dpuf