Summer School: Religion in Cities

In the summer of 2016, a vivid controversy about the banning of the burkini in a number of French coastal cities irrupted in the international media. Cities are spaces where international migration, globalisation and religious diversity converge. Debates over the construction of places of worship or the occupation of urban spaces for public uses are recurrent in many cities across Europe and beyond. While sometimes the controversies relate directly to religious matters, in other cases the issues at stake have to do with noise, lack of adequate infrastructure or urban planning regulations. Moreover, we see that the actors involved in such controversies and their capacity to make their voices heard vary across countries and cities.

This summer school addresses a topic that generates heated political debates and that is increasingly being discussed in the social sciences, namely the presence and regulation of religious diversity in cities. The aim of this summer school is to provide undergraduate students in their last year of studies, as well as Master and PhD students in different disciplines with the means to reflect upon religious issues in cities from the perspective of sociology, geography, urban studies and religious studies. The topic will be addressed from three different stand-points: a) a theoretical perspective to understand the presence, visibility and regulation of religious diversity in European cities; b) methodological insights into how to research these topics and conduct fieldwork in concrete urban settings; and c) discussions about the political relevance and policy responses offered at the level of cities.

More specifically, the summer school will deal with issues related to urban planning and the building of places of worship, the occupation of public spaces for urban uses, the regulation of use of religious outfit in public, among other things. Lectures will be based on empirical research conducted currently in cities in a number of countries. Students will have the opportunity to learn from experienced researchers and present as well as discuss their own work with other participants and lecturers. Moreover, students will meet and exchange with policy-makers and practitioners involved in the governance of religious diversity in cities.