Governing cemeteries: state responses to the new diversity in the Netherlands, Norway and France
This comparative and multi-level study of state responses is confronted with huge complexity. Almost all existing theoretical and methodological approaches -such as secularism (including multiple secularisms or post-secularism)- do not take these complexities seriously into account, focusing on one...
| Summary: | This comparative and multi-level study of state responses is confronted with huge complexity. Almost all existing theoretical and methodological approaches -such as secularism (including multiple secularisms or post-secularism)- do not take these complexities seriously into account, focusing on one concept only (wrong Leitdifferenz). They neglect different meanings of terms for agents in the field and they neglect the importance of different levels of governance, times, issues and minorities. This study, however, highlights minimally necessary complexity without drowning in this complexity. It draws clear conceptual, theoretical and methodological lessons, also in a broader sense for the study of governance of religious and cultural diversity and for the governance of migrations. It is a must read. (Veit Bader, Professor Emeritus, University of Amsterdam). Van den Breemer’s fascinating study of the religious governance of cemeteries by secular state institutions proves that cemeteries have become a privileged site to observe empirically the various ways in which the dual accommodation of religious-secular and multi-religious diversity takes place in today’s post-secular Western European societies. (Jose Casanova, Professor Emeritus, Georgetown University). "Providing a striking image of societal accomodation this book compares state response to Muslim and humanist burial needs in three European countries. Such accomodation is typically understood in terms of national models. Van den Breemer, however, shows that policy responses in fact follow distinctive types of logic between the various levels of governance, and that material solutions matter as well. While indeed large legal and discursive national differences between states remain, in praxis they do the same. In a departure from this major finding, van den Breemer argues for a 'two-pronged strategy' in the study of state responses to diversity, one that oscillates between theory development and everyday empirical analysis. Thus, the volume outlines a methodologically more coherant research agenda for the comparative study of religion, secularism, society, and state." --Provided by publisher, back cover |
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| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 293-314 |
| Physical Description: | 341 Seiten |
| ISBN: | 978-3-525-56732-6 3-525-56732-4 |
