Welfare Activities by New Religious Actors

This book offers a comparative examination of Islamic welfare activities across urban areasin both Switzerland and Italy, in order to address general issues relating to the welfareengagement of Islamic organisations in Europe. Welfare Activities by New Religious Actors describes how Islamic organisations have beencoordinated and structured in Geneva, Milan, Rome, and Zurich; four cities not yet analysed inthe literature on Islamic welfare. It also explores the institutional opportunities and constraintsthat are able to influence forms of social religious activities at the local and internationallevel, by bringing together two research fields that seldom speak to each other: social networkanalysis and political opportunity theory. This book will appeal to scholars of Sociology, Anthropology and Religious Studies dealingwith the social and political inclusion of Muslims in Europe and the social activities of Islamicorganisations in Western countries.