Banal Catholicism, Morality Policies and the Politics of Belonging in Spain
The articulation between religion, politics and the law in contemporary European societies is a complex matter. In this article, we argue that classical secularization approaches fail to capture the ambivalent form of Catholicism in Europe, and we advance an alternative approach that reconsiders two...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2021-04-01
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| Series: | Religions |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/5/293 |
| _version_ | 1797536796888793088 |
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| author | Mar Griera Julia Martínez-Ariño Anna Clot-Garrell |
| author_facet | Mar Griera Julia Martínez-Ariño Anna Clot-Garrell |
| author_sort | Mar Griera |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The articulation between religion, politics and the law in contemporary European societies is a complex matter. In this article, we argue that classical secularization approaches fail to capture the ambivalent form of Catholicism in Europe, and we advance an alternative approach that reconsiders two elements: temporality and social space. Firstly, we propose to adopt an “eventful temporality”, which enables the consideration of the impact of unexpected social and political events in altering the direction as well as shaping the public presence and form of religion. Secondly, we stress the need to focus on understanding the specificity of the different fields in which religion is mobilized, and the configuration and dynamics of each of these fields to explain the current weight of Christian majority churches in European societies. Drawing on empirical data from Spain, we examined the role and influence of Catholicism in three fields of public life: that of public services, that of morality politics and finally, that of the politics of belonging. In doing so, we identified their different temporalities (a long-term inertia in the first case, more abrupt changes in relation to the other two) as well as their specific dynamics in terms of actor constellations, issues at stake and symbolic repertoires. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:05:56Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a82127828a3b45939d38cc99b693bb5e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2077-1444 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T12:05:56Z |
| publishDate | 2021-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Religions |
| spelling | doaj.art-a82127828a3b45939d38cc99b693bb5e2023-11-21T16:38:12ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442021-04-0112529310.3390/rel12050293Banal Catholicism, Morality Policies and the Politics of Belonging in SpainMar Griera0Julia Martínez-Ariño1Anna Clot-Garrell2Department of Sociology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, SpainDepartment for the Comparative Study of Religion, University of Groningen, 9712 GK Groningen, The NetherlandsDepartment of Sociology, University of Barcelona, 08034 Barcelona, SpainThe articulation between religion, politics and the law in contemporary European societies is a complex matter. In this article, we argue that classical secularization approaches fail to capture the ambivalent form of Catholicism in Europe, and we advance an alternative approach that reconsiders two elements: temporality and social space. Firstly, we propose to adopt an “eventful temporality”, which enables the consideration of the impact of unexpected social and political events in altering the direction as well as shaping the public presence and form of religion. Secondly, we stress the need to focus on understanding the specificity of the different fields in which religion is mobilized, and the configuration and dynamics of each of these fields to explain the current weight of Christian majority churches in European societies. Drawing on empirical data from Spain, we examined the role and influence of Catholicism in three fields of public life: that of public services, that of morality politics and finally, that of the politics of belonging. In doing so, we identified their different temporalities (a long-term inertia in the first case, more abrupt changes in relation to the other two) as well as their specific dynamics in terms of actor constellations, issues at stake and symbolic repertoires.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/5/293eventful temporalitybanal religionpublic servicesmorality policiesCatholicismSpain |
| spellingShingle | Mar Griera Julia Martínez-Ariño Anna Clot-Garrell Banal Catholicism, Morality Policies and the Politics of Belonging in Spain Religions eventful temporality banal religion public services morality policies Catholicism Spain |
| title | Banal Catholicism, Morality Policies and the Politics of Belonging in Spain |
| title_full | Banal Catholicism, Morality Policies and the Politics of Belonging in Spain |
| title_fullStr | Banal Catholicism, Morality Policies and the Politics of Belonging in Spain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Banal Catholicism, Morality Policies and the Politics of Belonging in Spain |
| title_short | Banal Catholicism, Morality Policies and the Politics of Belonging in Spain |
| title_sort | banal catholicism morality policies and the politics of belonging in spain |
| topic | eventful temporality banal religion public services morality policies Catholicism Spain |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/5/293 |
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