Social construction of religious freedom: a comparative study among youth in Italy and Russia

Breskaya, Olga; Giordan, Giuseppe; Trophimov, Sergey

doi:10.1080/09637494.2022.2099217

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…However, the compatibility between them and our findings allows us to infer that they are also valid when this relationship is expressed at the level of society, suggesting further comparative research on this interplay. It is also worth noticing that the same patterns of differences were discovered by Breskaya et al (2022) comparing Italy and Russia, thus opening up questions about the effects of a post-communist past on social perceptions of religious freedom.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

“…This discrepancy in the results may be due to the different dimensions of religious freedom that they took into account and the choice to use a single item as an indicator of the variable. The influence of 'passive' and 'assertive' secularism on religious freedom and social perception has also been tested by Breskaya et al (2022) in Italy and in Russia. There, consistent with our own and previous research, 'passive secularism' was found to positively impact all the five dimensions of religious freedom examined in the study, in both the Italian and Russian samples.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although political secularism and its relationship with religious freedom are wellstudied on a theoretical level, empirical studies dealing with people's views are still practically nonexistent. As mentioned in the introduction to this article, two exceptions are Breskaya et al (2021b) and Breskaya et al (2022). There, the authors adopted Kuru's distinction between 'passive' and 'assertive' secularism.…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Breskaya et al (2021b) and Breskaya et al (2022), the concepts of 'passive' and 'assertive' secularism were operationalized through two items: 'State should be neutral, treat all religions equally, and allow them to be present in the public sphere' (passive secularism), and 'State should be neutral, treat all religions equally, and confine religious expression to the private sphere' (assertive secularism). However, Casanova's (2009Casanova's ( , 2011 concept of secularism emphasised not only the institutional but also the social dimension of the concept and its ideological component, holding together in each of the two concepts both normative positions on the relationship between State and religion and those on the role of religion in society.…”

Section: Institutional and Ideological Secularism (Independent Variab...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is worth mentioning that, in the framework of the social perceptions of religious freedom theory (SPRF) (see Breskaya and Giordan 2019), two attempts to test the impact of political secularism on social perceptions of religious freedom have already been made in both Italy (Breskaya et al 2021b) and Russia (Breskaya et al 2022). This study can in part be considered their conceptual replication, as it adopts their same theoretical approach to religious freedom and leaves the research question unchanged, but it uses different data sets and a different research design, especially concerning the measurement scales of political secularism.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Two Models of Political Secularism and Religious Freedom in Italy and Croatia: Findings from a Survey among Youth

Leofreddi

2023

Religions

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Interest in political secularism is growing, due to its proven relevant role in affecting people’s political behaviours and attitudes toward human rights. However, until now, only a few studies have analysed its influence on religious freedom and those which exist do so mostly from a governmental-policy perspective. Drawing upon the sociology of religious freedom, this article seeks to address this gap. Comparing two Catholic EU countries, Italy and Croatia, and adopting an empirical perspective, it aims to understand whether the endorsement of political secularism enhances or limits support for religious freedom. More specifically, the study draws a key distinction between two models of secularism, ‘institutional’ and ‘ideological’, whose impacts on different aspects of religious freedom are assessed. In doing so, this research presents the results of a cross-national survey on Social Perception of Religious Freedom (SPRF) that was carried out among university students in Italy (=714) and Croatia (=603). The results show the strong positive influence of moderate forms of political secularism in shaping a positive culture of religious freedom. At the same time, they validate the hypothesis that it is necessary to consider political secularism’s multiple facets to fully understand its influence on support for religious freedom in different countries.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Institutional and Ideological Secularism (Independent Variab...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Two Models of Political Secularism and Religious Freedom in Italy and Croatia: Findings from a Survey among Youth

Leofreddi

2023

Religions

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Social Construction of Religious Freedom in Legal Systems

Breskaya,

Giordan,

Richardson

2024

A Sociology of Religious Freedom

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This chapter demonstrates the centrality of the legal system in producing, protecting, and communicating the meaning of religious freedom within society. It highlights the interconnectedness of the processes of social and legal implementation of this right and the interplay of social dynamics and mechanisms of legal norm-making. The umbrella legal concept of “juridification,” as theorized by Blichner and Molander, is considered for describing the processes of increasing legal regulation of religion by governments. The chapter argues that socioreligious changes linked to increasing diversity, individualization of lifestyles, and fluidity of organizational forms influence the way legal systems regulate religion. These dynamics raise questions about the readiness of citizens to dialogue, make choices, and negotiate religious and secular identities. The chapter explores the interdependence of sociological and legal definitions of religion as they influence the socioreligious dynamics of religious freedom.

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The Judicialization of Religious Freedom

Breskaya,

Giordan,

Richardson

2024

A Sociology of Religious Freedom

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This chapter discusses societies where religious freedom is generally protected by governments, including especially their judicial systems, contrasting this with examples of societies where religious freedom is not valued. The concept of judicialization of religious freedom is delineated, along with growing tendencies in some nations and regions toward the “dejudicialization” of religious freedom. International legal systems and organization entities promoting religious freedom are briefly described, as is the development of legal pluralism in contemporary societies. Three nations where religious freedom is extremely limited are examined to illustrate conditions not conducive to religious freedom. The chapter concludes with a brief sociology of law-oriented analysis on how minority religions sometimes manage to prevail in legal actions against them and the efforts such groups launch in defense of their beliefs and practices. The concept of “cause lawyering” is introduced as part of the explanation of such legal confrontations.

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Social construction of religious freedom: a comparative study among youth in Italy and Russia

Cited by 7 publications

References 39 publications

Two Models of Political Secularism and Religious Freedom in Italy and Croatia: Findings from a Survey among Youth

Two Models of Political Secularism and Religious Freedom in Italy and Croatia: Findings from a Survey among Youth

Social Construction of Religious Freedom in Legal Systems

The Judicialization of Religious Freedom

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