The City as a Continuous Laboratory for Diversity: The Case of Geneva

After a long period of interest of religious plurality in the nation-state, the sociology of religion, with the impulse of the sociology of migration, has turned its attention to the city. This local level allows us to understand the issues of diversity governance. This article takes advantage of the literature on the governance of migration to apply it to the governance of religious diversity. Using data from the National Congregations Study and available data on Geneva, this article will first show how past responses to the emergence of diversity determine the path for future decisions. To this top-down regulation of religion responds one or more bottom-up strategies of religious communities to find legitimacy in a constraining environment. Based on the unit of the religious community, this study on Geneva provides a historical case of the evolution of diversity. This historical perspective provides the consistency of the current governance of religious diversity, illuminating the struggle for recognition of the minority groups

Female religious leadership in Switzerland: norms, power, and money

Women's access to positions of leadership in religions is a highly contested issue in Western societies, both inside religions themselves and in societal discussions of religion. Reliable data on actual female leadership are, however, scarce, especially in European countries and regarding minority religions. This article describes and explains statistically the normative openness of congregations to female leadership as well as the actual existence, position, and financial remuneration of female leaders across the whole range of religious traditions in Switzerland. The study is based on data from the representative National Congregations Study of 2008/2009. Our results show that, despite considerable normative openness, female spiritual and administrative leadership remains scarce in most religious traditions. The highest percentage of female spiritual leaders can be found in the milieu of alternative spirituality, followed by the Reformed congregations. A generally high percentage of female leadership can be found on administrative boards. It is only leadership positions in certain Christian traditions (Reformed, Catholic, Evangelical-classical) that are normally remunerated for women; many other traditions do not have female leadership or, as in the case of the milieu of alternative spirituality, such leadership positions are not remunerated

Religious Minorities and Struggle for Recognition

Religious minorities are increasingly present in the public sphere. Often pointed out as a problem, we argue here that the establishment of these minorities in Western societies is happening through struggles for recognition. Communities or individuals belonging to different minorities are seeking recognition from the society in which they are living. In Section 1, we present, briefly, our perspective, which differs from the analyses generally presented in the sociology of religion in that it adopts a bottom-up perspective. In Section 2, we present and discuss articles dealing with case studies in the cities of Barcelona, Geneva, and Montreal. In Section 3, we discuss two articles that present a process of individualization of claims for recognition. Finally, we present an article that discusses the case of an unrecognized minority in the Turkish school system

Croire ensemble. Analyse institutionnelle du paysage religieux en Suisse

The study presented in this book for the first time in Switzerland offers a broad empirical and sociological perspective on local religious organizations. From this perspective, religion appears first, as already observed by Weber and Durkheim, through communities regardless of their various profiles. In Switzerland, 5,734 parishes and religious groups have been identified by a national census in 2008. The book underlines the institutional salience of historical churches (Reformed and Roman Catholic) but also the emerging religious plurality, particularly in urban areas. This study sheds a new light upon the effects of secularization (lower limbs and practice) and pluralisation (diversification of religious denominations and traditions) in the organizational field. The analysis of differences and similarities between religious traditions shows a social positioning of the local groups according to the statutes acquired in history. The classical theories − e.g. about the relationship between social status of members and membership groups, types of religious authorities or differences between Church and Sect − are revisited, clarified or reformulated based on an original and representative quantitative data of the Swiss religious field

Mesurer la pratique religieuse

En Suisse, le recensement fédéral implique que 84,5 % des citoyens sont affiliés à une communauté religieuse et les enquêtes sur la pratique débouchent sur un taux de 15 % environ de la population pour un week-end ordinaire. Les recherches dans d'autres pays ont montré que la manière de récolter les données sur la participation religieuse influençait le pourcentage obtenu. Ainsi, aux États-Unis, les enquêtes individuelles démontrent des coefficients de pratique hauts et stables, alors que les études basées sur le comptage des participants aboutissent à des taux deux fois inférieurs. Un nouveau type d'enquête, le National Congregations Study (NCS) lancé en 2009, a permis de récolter des données à partir des groupes que fréquentent les fidèles. La comparaison entre les enquêtes confirme que le recensement fédéral sous-évalue les catégories absentes des modalités de réponse et que les pourcentages issus d'enquêtes classiques par sondage amplifient la participation régulière sans pour autant atteindre les écarts américains.In Switzerland, national census data imply that 84.5 percent are affiliated with religious groups and national survey data imply that 15 percent attend a service on a given weekend in 2009. Research in other countries has shown that attendance is often over-reported, but the level of over-report varies across countries. Thus, in the United States, polls show high and stable levels of religious practice, while Church participation surveys indicate rates twice lower. This article assesses the validity of self-reported affiliation and attendance in Switzerland using the 2009 Swiss National Congregations Study (NCS). Results confirm the observation offered by others that the Swiss census undercounts the persuasions absent from the stylized response categories and they show for the first time that Swiss probably over-report their church attendance, though not as much as in the United States.En Suiza, el censo federal muestra que el 84.5% de los ciudadanos está afiliado a una comunidad religiosa. Las encuestas individuales ponen en evidencia que alrededor del 15% de la población practica una religión de modo regular durante el fin de semana. Las investigaciones en otros países mostraron que la forma de recopilar los datos sobre la participación religiosa influyó sobre la tasa obtenida. Respectivamente, en los Estados Unidos, las encuestas individuales muestran coeficientes altos y estables de práctica, mientras que los estudios basados en el recuento de los participantes producen tasas dos veces inferiores. En este artículo se evalúa la validez de la afiliación y de la práctica en Suiza a partir de un nuevo tipo de encuesta, la National Congregations Study (NCS) que, llevada a cabo en 2009, permitió recopilar datos a partir de los grupos frecuentados por los fieles. La comparación entre varias encuestas permite confirmar las observaciones hechas por otros, como el hecho que el censo federal infravalora las categorías ausentes de las modalidades de respuesta. De mismo modo, los porcentajes obtenidos por sondeo, con las encuestas clásicas, amplían la participación regular sin, por lo tanto, alcanzar las diferencias americanas

Croire ensemble. Analyse institutionnelle du paysage religieux en Suisse

The study presented in this book for the first time in Switzerland offers a broad empirical and sociological perspective on local religious organizations. From this perspective, religion appears first, as already observed by Weber and Durkheim, through communities regardless of their various profiles. In Switzerland, 5,734 parishes and religious groups have been identified by a national census in 2008. The book underlines the institutional salience of historical churches (Reformed and Roman Catholic) but also the emerging religious plurality, particularly in urban areas. This study sheds a new light upon the effects of secularization (lower limbs and practice) and pluralisation (diversification of religious denominations and traditions) in the organizational field. The analysis of differences and similarities between religious traditions shows a social positioning of the local groups according to the statutes acquired in history. The classical theories − e.g. about the relationship between social status of members and membership groups, types of religious authorities or differences between Church and Sect − are revisited, clarified or reformulated based on an original and representative quantitative data of the Swiss religious field