This book aims to understand the European political debate about contentious issues, framed in terms of religious values by religious and/or secular actors in 21st century. It specifically focuses on the Italian case, which, due to its peculiar history and contemporary political landscape, is a paradigmatic case for the study of the relationships between religion and politics. In recent years, a number of controversies related to religious issues have characterised the European public debate at both the EU and the national level. The ‘affaire du foulard’ in France, the referendum on abortion in Portugal, the recognition of same-sex marriages in many Western European States, the debate over bioethics and the regulation of euthanasia are only a few examples of contentious issues involving religion. This book aims to shed light on the interrelation between these different debates, as well as their broader meaning, through the analysis of the paradigmatic case of Italy. Italy summarizes and sometimes exasperates wider European trends, both because of the peculiar role traditionally played by the Vatican in Italian politics and for the rise, since the 1990s, of new political entrepreneurs eager to exploit ethical and civilizational issues. This work will be of great interest to scholars and students of a number of fields within the disciplines of political science, sociology and law, and will be useful for courses on religion and politics, political parties, social movements and civil society.

This book analyses the influence of religion on political parties and party politics in contemporary democracies. To do so, it compares five cases of democracies belonging to different geographic-cultural areas, and marked by different religious majorities: India, Israel, Italy, Turkey, and the US. The time span of the analysis is the period between 1980 (year which can be conventionally regarded as a turning point for the return of religion in the public and the political spheres at the global level), and the present day. Unlike most works on religion and parties, this book does not simply take into account officially "religious" parties, but all "religiously oriented parties" (with an influence of religion on party manifestos, constituencies and/or factions) even if they are officially secular. The theoretical framework is provided by the "cleavages theory", which considers some relevant traumatic social events as the origin of specific kinds (or families) of political parties; and by a typology of religiously oriented parties dividing them into five categories: conservative, fundamentalist, progressive, nationalist, and camp party.

The region between the Baltic and the Black Sea was marked by a set of crises and conflicts in the 1920s and 1930s, demonstrating the diplomatic, military, economic or cultural engagement of France, Germany, Russia, Britain, Italy and Japan in this highly volatile region, and critically damaging the fragile post-Versailles political arrangement. The editors, in naming this region as "Middle Europe" seek to revive the symbolic geography of the time and accentuate its position, situated between Big Powers and two World Wars. The ten case studies in this book combine traditional diplomatic history with a broader emphasis on the geopolitical aspects of Big-Power rivalry to understand the interwar period. The essays claim that the European Big Powers played a key role in regional affairs by keeping the local conflicts and national movements under control and by exploiting the region's natural resources and military dependencies, while at the same time strengthening their prestige through cultural penetration and the cultivation of client networks. The authors, however, want to avoid the simplistic view that the Big Powers fully dominated the lesser players on the European stage. The relationship was indeed hierarchical, but the essays also reveal how the "small states" manipulated Big-Power disagreements, highlighting the limits of the latters' leverage throughout the 1920s and the 1930s.

This edited book aims to contribute to the political science scholarship on populism by focusing on the contemporary manifestations of populism in light of the current context. Populism has gone global, with populist parties gaining considerable ground, particularly in the last decade: populists are now in government in almost every part of the globe. In so doing, this book not only takes stock of the previous work on populism, but also builds upon it to further deepen our understanding of the phenomenon and take research forward. The authors explore different facets of the most recent manifestations of populism, trying to engage in new avenues as suggested by recent and authoritative academic work. The approach is comparative and multi-dimensional, with a cross-regional focus on Western Europe and the USA. The 12 contributions gathered in this book address a wide spectrum of aspects, many of which are largely understudied.

Across nineteenth-century Europe, the emergence of constitutional and democratic nation-states was accompanied by intense conflict between Catholics and anticlerical forces. At its peak, this conflict touched virtually every sphere of social life: schools, universities, the press, marriage and gender relations, burial rites, associational culture, the control of public space, folk memory and the symbols of nationhood. In short, these conflicts were 'culture wars', in which the values and collective practices of modern life were at stake. These 'culture wars' have generally been seen as a chapter in the history of specific nation-states. Yet it has recently become increasingly clear that the Europe of the mid- and later nineteenth century should also be seen as a common politico-cultural space. This book breaks with the conventional approach by setting developments in specific states within an all-European and comparative context, offering a fresh and revealing perspective on one of modernity's formative conflicts.

A contemporary examination of the role of religion in the European public sphere and beyond Although the role of religion has arguably declined in the societies of Western and Northern Europe, religious participation in other parts of the continent and among growing immigrant communities remains an important aspect of daily life. Recent years have seen a resurgence of religion in the public sphere, prompting many researchers to view European secularism as an outlier in this global trend. Religion and European Society: A Primer presents recent academic literature that explores key developments and current debates in the field, covering topics such as changing patterns of belief, religion across the political spectrum, and development and humanitarian aid. Articles written by leading scholars draw from well-established findings to help readers contemplate the role of religion in public life, understand the assumptions and underpinnings of the secular worldview, and develop new ways of thinking about global issues relevant to contemporary global affairs. Each theme is addressed by several articles to provide readers with diverse, sometimes competing perspectives. This volume offers concepts and ideas that can be used in various policy, practitioner, and academic settings—clarifying overarching concepts and trends rather than analyzing specific policy issues that can quickly become outdated. Addresses issues of contemporary importance such as demographic changes in religious observance, increased immigration, the emergence of new religious movements, and changes in more established religions Explores the ethical and philosophical concepts as well as the practical, everyday consequences of European post-secularism Challenges widespread assumptions about the secular nature of the modern public sphere Offers analytical tools as well as practical policy recommendations on a range of issues including media, regulation, gender, conflict and peacebuilding, immigration and humanitarianism. Designed to move research findings from academic journals to the realm of public discourse, Religion and European Society: A Primer is a valuable source of information for practitioners within and outside of Europe of religious studies, politics, and international affairs.

This edited collection offers a transnational and comparative approach to understanding anti-gender mobilizations in Europe.

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Understanding climate obstruction is foundational to advancing effective action on the global climate crisis. Starting in the late 1980s, a broad range of actors--including corporations and trade associations acting in coordination with conservative think tanks, foundations, and public relations firms--mounted a long-term effort to oppose action to mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions responsible for climate change. This is the first book to document the development and nature of these activities across Europe. Leading teams of experts examine case studies of eleven nations and the European Union. Each team documents the historic development of climate obstruction in the country, the principal organizations involved in these efforts, the strategies and tactics utilized, and the nature of the arguments made to slow or stop climate action. Noting significant differences between countries, the book concludes with ten lessons on climate obstruction across Europe that emerged from the studies. Future research is suggested to aid in better understanding the development of intentional barriers to action on climate change in Europe.

"Euchner’s carefully researched and cogently argued study of morality politics in Europe adds an outstanding piece of research to the ever growing literature on religion and politics. Its combination of quantitative and qualitative comparative analysis involving a novel data set and cross-policy perspectives demonstrates persuasively the role of religion as a resource for political action even in secularized societies." —Michael Minkenberg, Viadrina European University, Germany “Building upon the dichotomy between the “secular” and “religious” worlds of European morality politics, Dr. Euchner plumbs the empirical depths of four nations to unearth a compelling theoretical explanation for when value-laden conflicts surface in parliaments with a strong secular-religious party cleavage. This singularly important volume belongs in the institutional libraries and bibliographic collections of every serious student of public policy analysis, especially those of us who focus on morality policy.” —Raymond Tatalovich, Loyola University Chicago, USA This book introduces a new theoretical framework from which to understand religion and morality politics in Europe. This framework provides a first—and rather provocative—answer to the general debate on how religion influences policy-making processes. Specifically, the book argues that religion is more a strategic resource for political parties than a fundamental normative doctrine shaping political parties’ policy-making behavior in a systematic and coherent way. The framework proposes a mechanism (i.e. wedge issue competition) that can be used to identify and explain the conditions under which issues related to religious values rise and fall in parliaments of the religious world in Europe and what consequences we may expect in terms of policy reforms.