Employees bring their beliefs and religious values to work, and this can be a source of either positive performance or negative conflict. Social conflicts around religion impact more than societies and communities. They also impact organizations. 'Anti-religion' sentiments tend to be based on the perception that religion can be neatly separated from the 'more acceptable/palatable' spirituality, but this ignores the fact that - for most people - the two are intimately intertwined and inseparable. As religious identity is salient for a majority of the world's population, it is thus an important aspect of organizations - particularly those with a large and diverse body of employees. This handbook provides a timely and necessary analysis of religious diversity in organizations, investigating the role of national context, the intersections of religion with ethnicity and gender, and approaches to diversity management.

Issues of religious diversity in the workplace have become very topical and have been raised before domestic courts and the European Court of Human Rights. Examining the controversial and constantly evolving position of religion in the workplace, this collection brings together chapters by legal and social science scholars and provides a wealth of information on legal responses across Europe, Turkey and the United States to conflicts between professional and religious obligations involving employees and employers. The contributors examine how case law from the European Court of Human Rights, domestic experiences and comparative analyses can indicate trends and reveal established and innovative approaches. This multi-perspective volume will be relevant for legal practitioners, researchers, academics and policy-makers interested in human rights law, discrimination law, labour law and the intersection of law and religion.

Many observers propose the exclusion of all religious related aspects from organizational life, others promote a more tolerant approach of certain practices, symbols and ceremonies, and few commentators highlight the values, diverse religious beliefs and experiences that employees could bring to the organization. Arguments, conclusions and recommendations are often contradictory and inconclusive due to the complexity and dividing nature of religion diversity. In Managing Religious Diversity in the Workplace the editors present a selection of essays, conceptual papers, empirical studies and case studies about how religious diversity and spirituality are managed. The book explores how firms address organizational and managerial challenges deriving from the religion diverse backgrounds of their employees. The different contributions discuss policies and practices, how implicit and unmarked religious norms influence the ’managing’ of religious issues in organizations, and what the benefits of a religion diverse workforce are. It also includes contributions which address aspects of spirituality in the workplace, and the role of legal frameworks and their influence on organizations and their policies and practices regarding religion diversity. The perspectives and contributions include a wide range of disciplines by authors from leading academic institutions around the world.

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Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and adherents of other non-Western religions have become a significant presence in the United States in recent years. Yet many Americans continue to regard the United States as a Christian society. How are we adapting to the new diversity? Are we willing to do the hard work required to achieve genuine religious pluralism? Award-winning author Robert Wuthnow tackles these and other difficult questions surrounding religious diversity. Wuthnow contends that responses to religious diversity are fundamentally deeper than polite discussions about civil liberties and tolerance would suggest. Rather, he writes, religious diversity strikes at the very core of our personal and national theologies. Only by understanding this important dimension of our culture will we be able to move toward a more reflective religious pluralism. -- From publisher's description.

Guide to Religious Diversity in the US Workplace: Issues of Religion and Faith are emerging as major challenges in the American workplace. Religious Diversity at Work guides business leaders and service providers through religious differences. Our many contributors provide much-needed religious literacy, expert advice on minimizing conflict, and engaging training tools.

Diversity in the Workforce is a comprehensive, integrated teaching resource providing students with the tools and methodologies they need to negotiate effectively the multicultural workplace, and to counter issues of discrimination and privilege. Written from an American perspective, the book not only covers the traditional topics of race, gender, ethnicity and social class, but moves beyond this to explore emerging trends around ‘isms’ (racism, sexism), as well as transgender issues, spirituality, intergenerational workforce tensions, cross-cultural teams, physical appearance stigmatizing, visible and invisible disabilities, and racial harassment. The book: Presents theoretical models to help students think critically about the issues that emerge from workforce diversity Includes a historical perspective that explains the roots of the issues in the workplace today Covers potential legal and ethical issues Introduces a social justice paradigm to encourage social action Illustrates strategies organizations are using to leverage diversity effectively With end of chapter questions encouraging students to engage in difficult conversations, and case studies to stimulate students’ awareness of the real problems and issues that emerge from diversity, this book will help students develop the critical, analytical, problem solving and decision making skills they need to mediate or resolve diversity issues as future professionals.

The National Association for Multicultural Education in Washington, D.C., listed a number of issues that the school curriculum should address with reference to multicultural education, including racism, sexism, classism, linguicism, ablism, ageism, heterosexism, and religious intolerance. It is noteworthy that of all these issues, religion is about the only one that throughout history people are willing to die for, although whether what is at issue is really religion or other things such as territory is another matter. It is also interesting that all the others have isms in their names but religious issues are characterized by intolerance. Perhaps we should try to understand this intolerance and look at what steps might help to alleviate it. However, while intolerance might seem a simple thing, understanding what is behind it and how it plays such a crucial role in religion requires what we refer to in the Introduction chapter as a multifaceted approach at multiple levels. It is not enough just to try to dispel stereotypes of followers of other religions, or to point out commonalities in world religions. We should, for example, try to understand and appreciate how adherents of other religions try to answer questions regarding their adaptation to the contemporary environment. It is through understanding how different religions coexist side by side at various levels that we truly come to learn about religion in multicultural education.

Much contemporary research ignores or is dismissive of the growth of global religiosity, even though 90% of the global population sees the world through a commitment to some kind of faith. Reimagining Faith and Management addresses this issue and extends the research on the impact of faith in the various aspects of management, such as negotiation, leadership, entrepreneurship, governance, innovation, ethics, finance and careers. Faith impacts how individuals and organisations envision, manage and respond to their various stakeholders, communities, the natural environment and the world around them. This book presents various facets of how faith, values and/or ideological outlook which informs, influences and adds mystery that inspires and impels individuals and organisations. The twenty-one chapters are based on academic research and offer practical managerial recommendations. The book is divided into three sections: Faithful futures impacting individuals; Faithful futures impacting organisations; and Faithful futures impacting society. Each chapter presents a theoretical base and includes practical implications. The book is therefore ideal reading for educators, researchers and students of business, management, career studies, faith-based organisations, corporate governance, and business ethics, as well as religious studies, including applied theology.

Most regions and countries in the world are experiencing increasingly diverse populations and labour markets. While the causes may vary, the challenges businesses face due to a heightened awareness of this diversity are often similar. Internally, organisations promote diversity and manage increasingly heterogeneous workforces, accommodate and integrate employees with different value and belief systems, and combat a range of different forms of discrimination with organisational and also societal consequences. Externally, organisations have to manage demands from government, consumer, and lobbying sources for the implementation of anti-discrimination policies and laws. This has generated demand for appropriate higher level teaching programmes and for more diversity-focused research. Diversity in the Workplace responds to the increasing social and political debate and interest in diversity throughout Europe. The contributors discuss the concept of diversity in different social and legal contexts and from the perspectives of different academic disciplines including sociology, anthropology, psychology, philosophy and organizational theory. The book includes a European view and the makings of a conceptual framework to literature on diversity that hitherto has tended to be US orientated and overwhelmingly practice focused. It will stimulate fruitful exchanges of ideas about different approaches to the challenges faced by businesses and organisations of all kinds. With chapters by authors involved in research into diversity issues at leading academic institutions across Europe, this book offers much that will interest academics, researchers and higher level students, as well as practitioners wanting to understand managing workforce diversity; affirmative action programmes; and anti-discriminatory policy and practice in a wider context.