1st Edition
Representing Religion in the European Union Does God Matter?
Religious actors are becoming part of the EU bureaucratic system, and their mobilisation in Brussels and Strasbourg in the last decade has increased dramatically. This book explores the mechanism and impact of religious representation by examining relations between religious practitioners and politicians in the European Union from the Second World War until today.
This book seeks to answer the following questions: How do (trans)national religious groups enter into contact with European institutions? What are the rationale and the mechanisms of religious representation in the European Union? How are religious values transposed into political strategies? What impact has relations between religious practitioners, EU officials and politicians on the construction of the European Union?
Examining religious representation at the state, transnational and institutional levels, this volume demonstrates that ‘faith’ is becoming an increasingly important element of the decision-making process. It includes chapters written by both academics and religious practitioners in dialogue with European institutions and will be of great interest to students and scholars of European politics, history, sociology of religion, law and international relations.
Preface: Understanding Religion in Modern Europe Grace Davie Does God Matter in the European Union? Lucian N Leustean Part I: Religion and Politics in the European Union 1. Political Realism and Roman Catholic Faith in the Construction of Europe: Konrad Adenauer, Robert Schuman, and Charles de Gaulle Michael Sutton 2. Deus ex Machina: Representing God on the Stage of the European Union John T. S. Madeley 3. Turkey and Europe: Religion, Nationalism and International Relations Jeffrey Haynes Part II: Representing Churches, Religions and Communities of Conviction in the European Union 4. The Roman Catholic Church and the European Institutions: Dialogue and Advocacy at the European Union Frank Turner 5. From Athens and Berlin to Brussels: Reflections on Community Knowledge and Dialogue between the EU Institutions and the Churches Gary Wilton 6. The Dialogue of Churches with European Political Institutions: Does It Matter? Peter Pavlovic 7. Religion and the European Union Tariq Ramadan 8. Article 17: Reasons for Concern David Pollock Part III: Representing Religion: The State Dimension 9. Eurosceptic Allies or Euroenthusiast Friends? The Political Discourse of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland Simona Guerra 10. Christian Churches in the Process of the EU Treaties’ Reform Sergei A. Mudrov Part IV: Representing Religion: The Transnational Dimension 11. The Shape of Post-Secularity: Why the United States is More Religious but Less Christian than Europe? Adrian Pabst 12. Why Brussels is neither Washington nor Berlin. Political Catholicism in Differing Political Systems Antonius Liedhegener Part V: Representing Religion: The Institutional Dimension 13. How Many Roads Lead to Brussels? The Political Mobilisation of Religious Organisations within the European Public Sphere Freiderike Bollmann 14. Religious Contributions to Law and Policy Making in a Secular Political Order: The Approach of European Institutions Ronan McCrea
Biography
Lucian N. Leustean is a Senior Lecturer in Politics and International Relations at the Aston Centre for Europe and the Associate Dean for Postgraduate Programmes in the School of Languages and Social Sciences at Aston University, Birmingham
Is acquiescence to neoliberal secularism the only viable option in light of the increasing religious pluralism, driven mainly by immigration, which is by no means experienced equally across the continent? Furthermore, while it is certain that the policies of the EU being formulated in Brussels will continue to leave questions of policies toward religion up to the individual member states, there is plenty of support and precedent for establishing common policies in areas such as upholding basic human rights. How far is the loose federalism of the EU stretched if and when policies of an individual nation toward the practice of religion within its own borders are conceived by other member states as approaching basic human-rights issues? […] these are the most interesting and important questions being raised, discussed, and variously answered by the historians, religious figures, sociologists, economists, and political scientists included in this valuable collection. Daniel Liechty, Religion
One paradoxical impression to take away from the book is that the EU, despite its secular outlook, favours religious interests over non-religious communities of conviction.
Michael Minkenberg, West European Politics
