This volume seeks to understand the role and function of religious-based organizations in strengthening associational life through the provision of social services, thereby legitimizing a new role for faith in the formerly secular public sphere. Specifically, we explore how a church in a postcommunist setting, during periods of economic growth and recession in the wake of transitions to capitalism, and with varied numbers of adherents, might contribute to welfare services in a new political regime with freedom of religion. Put another way, what new pressures would be placed on the secular welfare state if religious organizations (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, others) simply stopped offering their services? By examining public perceptions of the church, changing dynamics of religiosity, and church-state-civil society relations, the volume places these issues in context.
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Yes, you can access Faith-Based Organizations and Social Welfare by Miguel Glatzer, Paul Christopher Manuel, Miguel Glatzer,Paul Christopher Manuel in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in Teologia e religione & Politica europea. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.
M. Glatzer, P. C. Manuel (eds.)Faith-Based Organizations and Social WelfarePalgrave Studies in Religion, Politics, and Policyhttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44707-6_1
Begin Abstract
1. Religion, Faith-Based Organizations, and Welfare Delivery in Contemporary Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the Volume
As was the case with our first volume in this series, Faith-Based Organizations and Social Welfare: Associational Life and Religion in Contemporary Western Europe, the chapters in this volume seek to understand the role and function of religious-based organizations in Eastern Europe.1 They ponder how these organizations may strengthen associational life through the provision of social services, thereby legitimizing a new role for faith in the formerly secular public sphere. Specifically, this volume examines how the church, in a post-communist setting, during periods of economic growth and recession in the wake of transitions to capitalism, and with varied numbers of adherents, contributes to welfare services in new political regimes with freedom of religion.
Examining the “welfare role” of the church as well as varying trends in church membership, the chapters also shed light on the ways in which religion has contributed to the deepening of democracy or, in some cases, to its erosion. Faith-based organizations and activity vary across countries and over time, reflecting distinct historical trajectories and evolving state–church relationships. As was the case with our first volume in this series, this volume challenges social scientists to take a nuanced approach to how secularization is changing Europe. It asks them to consider the ways in which faith-based organizations strengthen associational life, thereby promoting democracy (although we recognize that in some cases churches have allied themselves with authoritarian parties and illiberal regimes). Throughout, the volume seeks to shed light on the question of how much faith-based organizations support the poor and marginalized. Based on available data, each chapter asks which new pressures would be placed on the secularwelfare state if religious organizations (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim) simply stopped offering their services.
Conceptualizing Variation in Contemporary Eastern Europe
This volume addresses the role and function of religious-based organizations in strengthening associational life in East Europe. As we gaze upon contemporary Eastern Europe in 2020, we find a complex range of cultural, political, and religious activities at the grassroots level of civil society. This activity calls out for serious scholarly attention. This volume takes up that call as it seeks to capture the rich, lived reality of religion and politics, as well as faith and culture. It examines nine East European cases (Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Estonia) selected to maximize variation along four dimensions: type of religious marketplace, level of democratization, welfare state type, and economic performance/preference for communism in the recent past (see Fig. 1.1).
Fig. 1.1
Four dimensions of comparative inquiry
(Source Freedom House, 2019, Freedom in the World, https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/freedom-world-2019/democracy-in-retreat; International Labour Organization, Social Security System of Ukraine in 2014–2015 and Beyond: Towards Effective Social Protection Floors, http://www.un.org.ua/images/documents/4522/wcms_504529.pdf; Pew Research Center, “End of Communism Cheered but Now with More Reservations,” November 2, 2009, https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2009/11/02/end-of-communism-cheered-but-now-with-more-reservations/; Pew Research Center, “Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe,” May 10, 2017, https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/; World Bank, EU Regular Economic Report 2: Sustaining Recovery, Improving Living Standards, 2015, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/312771468178188378/pdf/102089-REVISED-WP-PUBLIC-Box394828B-151217-WorldBank-Brochure-LD-DEF1.pdf; World Bank, Towards More Effective Social Assistance in Russia: An Update of the System Performance Considering New National Target of Halving Poverty by 2024, 2019, http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/391591564381077495/pdf/Strengthening-Social-Protection-Towards-more-effective-social-assistan...
Table of contents
Cover
Front Matter
1. Religion, Faith-Based Organizations, and Welfare Delivery in Contemporary Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the Volume
2. Religion, Civil Society, and the State: Dynamics in Eastern Europe
Part I. Majority Orthodox Countries
Part II. Majority Roman Catholic Countries
Part III. Countries with Large Numbers of Religiously Unaffiliated
