Religion and Welfare in Europe

Lina Molokotos-Liederman is a Visiting Fellow at the Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre at Uppsala University, Sweden, and a Post-Doc Associate of the Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités (GSRL/CNRS), Paris. She holds a PhD in sociology of religion from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris.Anders Bäckström is Professor Emeritus in Sociology of Religion at Uppsala University. He established both the Uppsala Religion and Society Research Centre and The Impact of Religion programme.Grace Davie is Professor Emeritus in Sociology at the University of Exeter, UK and senior adviser to The Impact of Religion programme.

• Introduction ~ Anders BäckströmPart one: Thinking methodologically: approaches to research and practice;Between contextuality and comparability: a dilemma in qualitative comparative case studies ~ Pål RepstadUsing case studies in religion, values and welfare research ~ Olav Helge Angell and Lina Molokotos-LiedermanSocial cohesion: from research to practice ~ Olav Helge Angell, Marjukka Laiho, Anne Birgitta Pessi and Siniša ZrinščakPart two: Thinking regionally: key case studies in welfare and religion in EuropeThe WaVE project as a record of religious and social transformations in northern Europe ~ Anders BäckströmThe intersections of state, family and Church in Italy and Greece ~ Margarita Markoviti and Lina Molokotos-LiedermanReligion, welfare and gender: the post-communist experience ~ Siniša ZrinščakPart three: Gendered and minority perspectivesUnderstanding religious minority communities as civil society actors ~ Annette Leis-PetersStriving to live the good life: the tension between self-fulfilment and family obligations for women in northern England ~ Martha Middlemiss Lé MonReligion as a resource or as a source of exclusion?: The case of Muslim women’s shelters ~ Pia Karlsson MingantiThe moral and gendered crisis of the Italian welfare system seen through the prism of migrant women’s reproductive health ~ Annalisa FrisinaPart four: Drawing the threads togetherWelfare and values in Europe: insights drawn from a comparative cross-country analysis ~ Effie FokasAfterword ~ Grace Davie

"This new volume brings a fresh perspective... and makes an impressive contribution to our knowledge in this important area." Theology