Religion, Vaccines and Violence: Anxiety about the End of \u27The World\u27

What happens when our institutions, practices, laws, and norms are challenged by individuals and groups attached to potentially irreconcilable accounts of the world? Two recent research projects – one examining religious and cultural reasons for vaccine hesitancy, and the other exploring religious radicalization and securitization – demonstrate how we do — and how we might — respond to situations in which dominant and minority accounts of reality clash and in which these conflicts have tangible consequences. Our approaches to such moments reveal a great deal not just about the modern self and society, but also prevailing approaches to religious or extra-secular claims and communities

For Ourselves, Our Neighbours, Our Homelands : Religion in Folklorama’s Israel Pavilion

Winnipeg’s Folklorama is the largest and longest-running multicultural festival in the world. Local ethnic groups present outsiders (and insiders) with cultural displays, foods, and usually an ethnic performance of some kind. The fact that members of these groups must formally decide how they will represent themselves makes this festival an excellent opportunity to understand the ways groups use these festivals to interact with the broader Canadian society. Although festival managers caution individual pavilion organisers to avoid provocative political or religious issues when designing their pavilions, in the process of depicting particular cultures, ethnic religious traditions are often expressed. In this article, the author focuses specifically on the place and depiction of religions (mainly Islam and Judaism) in the Israel Pavilion. This analysis reveals that the depictions of religion in this pavilion serve to further some of the specific and general goals of the community, including the reduction of local ignorance and anti-Semitism, the preservation of Jewish identity, and the promotion of pro-Israel sentiment.Le Folklorama de Winnipeg est le plus important et le plus ancien festival multiculturel au monde. Les communautés ethniques locales présentent la culture de la population de leur pays (et celle de la communauté d’immigrés) avec des kiosques culturels, des aliments et habituellement un spectacle ethnique. Le fait que les membres de ces groupes doivent décider de la façon dont ils se représentent eux-mêmes fait de ce festival une excellente opportunité pour comprendre les façons dont le festival est utilisé par les groupes pour interagir avec la société canadienne dans son ensemble. Bien que les dirigeants du festival, lorsqu’ils attribuent les pavillons, avertissent les organisateurs d’éviter les questions religieuses ou politiques provocatrices, dans la foulée des efforts déployés pour dépeindre des cultures particulières, les traditions religieuses ethniques sont souvent présentées quand même. Dans cet article, l’auteur se penche particulièrement sur la place des religions et la présentation qui en est faite (principalement l’Islam et le judaïsme) dans le pavillon d’Israël. Cette analyse montre que les présentations de la religion dans ce pavillon servent surtout certains des objectifs spécifiques et généraux de la communauté, comme la réduction de l’ignorance locale et de l’antisémitisme, la préservation de l’identité juive et la promotion du sentiment pro-Israël

Religion, Vaccines and Violence: Anxiety about the End of \u27The World\u27

What happens when our institutions, practices, laws, and norms are challenged by individuals and groups attached to potentially irreconcilable accounts of the world? Two recent research projects – one examining religious and cultural reasons for vaccine hesitancy, and the other exploring religious radicalization and securitization – demonstrate how we do — and how we might — respond to situations in which dominant and minority accounts of reality clash and in which these conflicts have tangible consequences. Our approaches to such moments reveal a great deal not just about the modern self and society, but also prevailing approaches to religious or extra-secular claims and communities

Accommodating Religious Diversity in Switzerland

Pfaff-Czarnecka J. Accommodating Religious Diversity in Switzerland. In: Bramadat P, Koenig M, eds. International Migration and the Governance of Religious Diversity. Migration and diversity. Vol 1. Montreal: School of Policy Studies, Queen's Univ.; 2009: 225-257