Defenders of faith? Victims of secularisation? Polish politicians and religion in the European Parliament
Recent years have shown a growing academic interest in the role and function of religion in the EU. This resulted from ongoing discussions on the symbolic deficit of the European project and politicised debate on the Christian roots of European identity, as well as from the enlargement of 2004, whic...
| Published in: | Religion, state & society |
|---|---|
| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Routledge
2014
|
| In: |
Religion, state & society
|
| Further subjects: | B
Poland
B Religion B European Parliament B European Identity B the European Union |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Recent years have shown a growing academic interest in the role and function of religion in the EU. This resulted from ongoing discussions on the symbolic deficit of the European project and politicised debate on the Christian roots of European identity, as well as from the enlargement of 2004, which brought into the EU new member-states with different traditions of church-state relations and distinctive forms of religious governance. Our study contributes to this scholarship by focusing on the role of religion in the context of the European Parliament (EP) as exercised by Polish members. The first part provides some background information on the relationship between religion and politics in the Polish domestic context. This is followed by presentation of the research findings from a survey conducted among Polish members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and from a qualitative content analysis of the arguments used by them in plenary sessions. In conclusion, we argue that religion is an important resource in the hands of right-wing politicians for justifying various claims in the EP. Furthermore, we also maintain that the national context and the national understanding of the functions of religion influence the way it is presented and used at the European level. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1465-3974 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion, state & society
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/09637494.2014.936158 |