Table of Contents

Introduction ~ Anders Bäckström
Part one: Thinking methodologically: approaches to research and practice;
Between contextuality and comparability: a dilemma in qualitative comparative case studies ~ Pål Repstad
Using case studies in religion, values and welfare research ~ Olav Helge Angell and Lina Molokotos-Liederman
Social cohesion: from research to practice ~ Olav Helge Angell, Marjukka Laiho, Anne Birgitta Pessi and Siniša Zrinš?ak
Part two: Thinking regionally: key case studies in welfare and religion in Europe
The WaVE project as a record of religious and social transformations in northern Europe ~ Anders Bäckström
The intersections of state, family and Church in Italy and Greece ~ Margarita Markoviti and Lina Molokotos-Liederman
Religion, welfare and gender: the post-communist experience ~ Siniša Zrinš?ak
Part three: Gendered and minority perspectives
Understanding religious minority communities as civil society actors ~ Annette Leis-Peters
Striving to live the good life: the tension between self-fulfilment and family obligations for women in northern England ~ Martha Middlemiss Lé Mon
Religion as a resource or as a source of exclusion?: The case of Muslim women’s shelters ~ Pia Karlsson Minganti
The moral and gendered crisis of the Italian welfare system seen through the prism of migrant women’s reproductive health ~ Annalisa Frisina
Part four: Drawing the threads together
Welfare and values in Europe: insights drawn from a comparative cross-country analysis ~ Effie Fokas
Afterword ~ Grace Davie

About the Author

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 Societes, Religions, Lacites (GSRL/CNRS), Paris. She holds a PhD in sociology of religion from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris.

Anders Bckstrm 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.

Reviews

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

“This is a fascinating, complex, rich book rooted in deep research and providing an innovative and revealing new analysis in the intersection of welfare, women and minorities.” Religion, State & Society

"A fascinating volume exploring religion, gender, minorities and welfare in Europe, offering significant insights into the link between values, welfare and social change." Dr Stephanie Sinclair, The Open University

"This is a timely and authoritative text - fit for students and experts alike - which builds on the insights of the WaVE research to shed new light on gender issues and minority religious groups in Europe. The comparative perspective encompassing diverse national settings provides an important back-drop for analysing some of the key social welfare implications of an increasingly culturally diverse continent." Rana Jawad, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy, University of Bath, UK