Abstract: Monica Grigore Dovlete ,Lori Beaman : Once a religiously vibrant society, today Quebec is in the midst of a transition in its religious identity. Yet, the landscape of Quebec still preserves the marks of its perhaps more religious past. In other words, churches stand out in the contemporary panorama of the province. However, the lack of support by an active community has meant that many churches closed or face the threat of closure. Those religious groups that remain struggle to save their places of worship. The faithful of Parishville, both Catholic and Protestant, are no exception. This article explores the narratives of three religious groups (Anglican, United Church and Catholic) about an abandoned building that was once a church and then a Masonic Temple. Through our exploration of the aesthetic and material dimensions of the Masonic Temple we reveal aspects of the contemporary struggle of religious groups to survive as well as the fears, tensions and problems associated with this struggle. As it turns out, the Masonic Temple is a sort of ghostly presence, reminding the Protestant and Catholic parishioners of Parishville their own religious decline—the end of their building and the end of their faith.1
Abstract: Brett Hoover : Traditional understandings of ownership emphasize legal or economic property rights, but these conceptions come up short when examining faith communities in the United States context, where congregants often feel and act as “owners,” regardless of legal property rights. International migration to the United States further complicates this “felt ownership” within faith communities, as distinct racial, ethnic, or language groups compete or cooperate around their claims of ownership. In those Roman Catholic faith communities known as “shared parishes,” where multiple racial, ethnic, or language groups have separate worship and ministries but share facilities and leadership (Hoover 2014), the complex negotiations of sharing demonstrate the power dynamics between groups. A two-year case study of three such parishes in the Los Angeles area shows how the “felt ownership” of particular groups is privileged or limited by the various factors that shape the often asymmetrical power dynamics between the groups in U.S. society.
Abstract: Silke Steets : Informed by the sociology of knowledge, this paper understands buildings as “material objectivations” that continuously “act back” upon their users. It examines the following question: Why are the discussions about constructing new (religious) landmark buildings, or the rebuilding of historical ones, so emotionally charged' Using the debate about a proposed golden cross on top of the reconstruction of the Prussian City Palace in Berlin as a starting point, this article studies buildings on two levels: the level of bodily experience, on which they unfold their seductive features, and the level of – often conflicting – symbolic inscription. The analysis shows that religious landmark buildings, such as churches or mosques, use specific means of expression to stimulate the experience of the “numinous.” As a result, they are often loaded with strong emotions and feelings of belonging or dis-belonging. As religious communities increasingly become fragmented in diverse societies, symbolic recognition in landmark projects appears to be a deeply political concern.
Abstract: Daniela Heimpel : Dans cet article, l’auteure s’interroge, du point de vue de la théorie politique, sur la possibilité de penser une éducation à la citoyenneté européenne. En 2009, le Comité économique et social européen a suggéré à l’Union européenne (UE) l’introduction d’une « instruction civique européenne commune » afin de « donner à ses citoyens un réel sentiment d’appartenance » à l’Europe. Si des programmes d’éducation civique existent au niveau national, leur transposition, de manière analogue, au cadre européen et à la citoyenneté européenne ne va pas de soi. En effet, et sans compter les raisons politico-pratiques, l’UE ne souscrit pas à la même logique de construction que jadis les États-nations. Il semble à la fois contre-productif et indésirable, quant au processus d’intégration européenne, d’attribuer à l’éducation le rôle qu’elle a pu avoir dans la construction étatique. De plus, l’UE présente quelques traits spécifiques qui posent des défis particuliers à l’application de l’éducation civique à la citoyenneté européenne ; en effet, ce type d’enseignement a traditionnellement été pensé à partir de présupposés stato-nationaux (catégories, questionnements et problèmes). En s’appuyant sur les travaux post- et transnationaux en études européennes et différents écrits sur le rôle des écoles dans la construction des États-nations et sur l’éducation civique en tant que problème éthique et politique, l’auteure entame ici une analyse de ces défis et offre quelques pistes pour repenser l’éducation civique dans le cadre européen. : This article discusses the possibility of thinking a European citizenship education from the perspective of political theory. In 2009, the European Economic and Social Committee advised the European Union (EU) to introduce a “[c]ommon European civic education” to give “its citizens a real sense of belonging” to Europe. Civic education programs already exist on the national level, for state-based citizenships. Yet, their pure transposition from the national to the European context – somewhat similar to the nation-state – cannot be taken for granted. Besides practical concerns, the raisons are twofold: first, the EU does not follow the same logic of construction which once characterized the nation-state. It seems thus neither productive nor desirable to attribute education in the European integration process the same role it played in nation-building. Secondly, the EU has some specific features which pose challenges when civic education is applied to European citizenship; indeed, the concept of civic education has traditionally been thought on nation-state assumptions (categories, issues, problems). In this article, the author proposes an analysis of these challenges and indicates routes for re-thinking civic education in the framework of the EU. To do this, she relies on post- and transnational writings in European studies as well as on different studies on the role of schools in nation-state construction and research on civic education as a political and ethical problem.
Abstract: Capucine Berdah ,Kim Désert : En donnant plus de visibilité et un rôle politique accru à l’Union européenne, la crise permet de structurer un espace public au niveau européen. Une des façons de vérifier cette hypothèse est d’étudier le discours médiatique. Cet article analyse l’impact de la crise sur le discours médiatique français. Dans une démarche exploratoire, nous comparons les campagnes électorales des élections européennes de 2009 (avant la crise) et de 2014 (pendant la crise) afin d’observer s’il y a une évolution dans le traitement de l’information. Nos données suggèrent que la crise a un impact sur la visibilité de l’Union européenne en créant un espace médiatique et politique qui lui est propre, et qu’elle n’avait pas en 2009.
Abstract: Kathleen Angers : This article analyzes the impact of European Union membership on the practice of diplomacy among new member states. What does it mean, for a diplomat, to move from embodying the nation state to representing a member state? To generate a fine-grained account of the experience of adapting to the EU, I conduct an interview-based study of Austrian diplomats’ adaptation to the EU following their country's accession in 1995. Borrowing from the sociology of Pierre Bourdieu, the interpretation of the data shows the cardinal importance for diplomats of learning to master the rules that have become taken-for-granted in the EU diplomatic field. Learning to deploy effective strategies in a new EU context, I argue, matters significantly more to the successful adaptation of diplomats than being socialized into a new identity does. This empirical finding suggests that the socialization literature in EU studies has not paid enough attention to social practices.
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