Adapter la religion : négocier les limites de la religion minoritaire dans les espaces urbains

Abstract

Throughout Europe we observe a significant trend of increasing state intervention in the governance of religious practices and expressions. A growing number of policies and procedures seek to define and regulate how religion can, and cannot, be expressed in the public domain. In this article we explore how ideas of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ religion are translated into policies in urban contexts. We disentangle the social imaginaries that underlie the symbolic boundaries that distinguish between ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ expressions of religiosity, and the repertoires of justification used to enforce them. Drawing on empirical research in cities in France and Spain, we argue that public expressions of religion are more likely to be deemed ‘acceptable’ in public as long as they meet a series of criteria, namely being perceived as: a) aesthetic and festive, rather than outrageous, b) discrete/decent/decorous rather than interpellating and, more importantly, c) exceptional rather than ordinary, d) freely chosen rather than imposed, e) cultural rather than pious, f) being legible with existing reference frameworks and categories rather than unintelligible. In other words, religious expressions are accepted, and considered to be acceptable, if they ‘fit’ or can be made ‘fit’ certain social expectations.

Religious representation and performative citizenship: The civic dimensions of Shia lamentation rituals in Barcelona

“…Obtaining permits to stage religious events, moreover, is oftentimes contingent upon establishing positive relationships with public authorities and the wider community of residents. It is therefore common for representatives to act strategically to allay potential concerns by stressing their compliance with municipal norms and regulations, and by adapting religious rituals so that they are more intelligible and palatable to local sensibilities (Martínez-Ariño and Griera, 2020).…”

Hybrid Social Spaces and the Individualisation of Religious Experience in the Global North: Spatial Aspects of Religiosity in Postmodern Society

“…It is no coincidence, therefore, that recent decades have been fraught with the diversity of public expressions of religiosity and often with the conflicts that have arisen from this. This is related to the changes in social spaces, particularly the process that promotes the development of individual religiosity by challenging hierarchical structures (Wigley 2018;Martínez-Ariño and Griera 2020).…”

Proyectos morales y nuevas subjetividades religiosas en el espacio público. A modo de presentación

“…Solo recientemente se ha prestado la atención al ámbito local, y especialmente a las ciudades, a la hora de dar cuenta de las nuevas formas de subjetividad religiosa (Astor, Griera y Cornejo-Valle, 2019;Martínez-Ariño, 2018;Griera, 2012). Ciertamente, el imaginario de la secularización había concebido la ciudad como su propio escenario privilegiado, haciendo de lo urbano no solo un espacio de expresión sino un proyecto moral en sí: la ciudad secular (Martínez-Ariño, 2020;Cox, 1975), un lugar hostil para las expresiones religiosas tradicionales que, a su vez, y como nos recuerdan Esteso y Martín-Andino en este número, ha sido percibido por los actores religiosos como una tendencia que contestar o, en los términos de Cox, exorcizar. La investigación contemporánea sobre las nuevas subjetividades religiosas en el espacio público justamente nos permite ver más allá de la asunción moderna sobre la ciudad secular, también instalada en la academia, y dar cuenta de las formas en que las tensiones entre la ciudad y lo religioso se han venido resolviendo en las últimas décadas, dando lugar a experiencias nuevas de lo urbano, y subjetividades religiosas también a su vez influenciadas por los espacios y las prácticas de y en las ciudades.…”