UK/BRIC - Practices and processes of religious diversity | ||
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Rationale and Research Context Together, the BRIC nations comprise approximately 40% of the world’s population, cover more than 25% of its populated land mass and are responsible for 27% of global GDP. As they increasingly come into contact with the contemporary dynamics of globalising modernity, each of these countries is experiencing a range of macro-structural, institutional and micro-social developments which combine to engender an ongoing growth in the kinds and amounts of religious diversity. Despite their growing geo-political status and progressive theoretical significance for understanding the changing world in which we live, the recent boom in religious diversity studies has virtually bypassed the BRIC nations. Drawing upon the expertise of academics and stakeholders intimately associated with the respective contexts of the BRIC nations and the UK, this project advances current understanding by adding a much needed, though till now relatively neglected, dimension to contemporary appreciations of religious diversity’s character and consequences for modern existence. Aims and Objectives
Theoretical and Methodological Advances The network will also reflect upon the strengths, limitations and relevance of popular theoretical models and analytical frameworks (e.g. market competition vs state regulation; secularisation vs sacralisation; multiculturalism vs assimilation; security vs freedom; order vs anomie; universalism vs particularism) for understanding religious diversity as it plays out in both non-western and western contexts. As well as exploring their respective national manifestations and transnational profiles, the network will identify and discuss the different economic-political processes and socio-cultural dynamics which variously give rise to, sustain, promote or hinder religious diversity. Methodological issues will also be addressed by the network, not least in respect of how different types of data pertaining to religious diversity (e.g. kinds and amounts) might best be acquired and analysed. The network will also explore the pertinence and utility of different ways of empirically investigating religious diversity relative to the varying character of BRIC and UK contexts. |
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