This volume aims to rethink the intersections of gender and religion, as well as the secular and religious, in implementing and challenging gender equality at individual, institutional, and societal levels in the regions around the Baltic Sea. Acknowledging the diversity of societies and the significance of socio-historical contexts, the empirical data discussed in this book draw attention to the under-researched region of post-socialist Baltic states. The analyses presented in the chapters are based on fieldwork carried out in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Norway. This volume includes sociological, anthropological, historical, political science, and theological perspectives and covers five broad research areas: a shifting concept of gender equality and its developments in Baltic and Nordic countries; a diversity of developments within religious groups related to issues of gender equality and the negotiation of competing gender ideologies; inter-religious developments and gender equality; the role of religions in the construction of public discourse on gender equality; and religious socialization, focusing on the promotion of religious gender models through socialization and public education.

Gender inequality holds back not just women but the economic and social development of entire societies. This atlas presents a new measure of gender inequality which examines women’s status according to family situation, physical integrity, son preference, civil liberties and ownership rights.

Gender Equality on a Grand Tour. Politics and Institutions – the Nordic Council, Sweden, Lithuania and Russia explores the politics around the establishment, development and transformation of gender equality institutions in the Nordic countries (on the example of Sweden), in the former communist countries east of the Baltic Sea region (the example of Lithuania) and in the northwestern part of Russia. The authors analyze the interplay between the internationalization and Europeanization of gender equality on the one hand and national and local contexts on the other. Gender Equality on a Grand Tour also is the first study to explore the role of one of the leading transnational actors in the region - the Nordic Council and the Nordic Council of Ministers - in gender equality institutionalization in the Baltic Sea region.

How do religious women talk about and practise citizenship? How is religion linked to gender and nationality? What are their views on gender equality, women's movements and feminism? Via interviews with Christian and Muslim women in Norway, Spain and the UK, this book explores intersections between religion, citizenship, gender and feminism.

Taking the notion of embodiment as a starting point, this volume maps the interconnecting relationships between religion, gender and sexuality. The chapters highlight how the body – its location, the narratives that surround it, its movement and negotiations – is central to understanding these multifaceted relationships. The contributors recognise the ways in which gender and sexuality are crucial to how we embody religion and encourage a more complex and nuanced understanding of embodied religion. The material is organised according to three central themes: (1) the relationship between the religious and the secular; (2) power, regulation and resistance; and (3) the symbolism of gendered bodies. Cutting across a range of disciplinary perspectives, Embodying Religion, Gender and Sexuality will be relevant to students of sociology, anthropology, gender and sexuality studies, theology and religious studies.

Inspired by the success of the US Christian Right and the rise of the global far-right, ultraconservative Christians in Europe are joining forces and seek to reshape Europe. By assembling in anti-gender movements and sharing anti-Muslim narratives, they actively influence the political landscape and shape government policies. The contributors offer new perspectives on the protagonists and the entangled networks that work to abolish liberal democracy in Europe behind the scenes. This anthology is the first to bring together case studies on the Christian Right in over 20 European countries, providing a transnational perspective and an accessible insight for clergy, politicians, and academics alike.

Secular Societies, Spiritual Selves? is the first volume to address the gendered intersections of religion, spirituality and the secular through an ethnographic approach. The book examines how ‘spirituality’ has emerged as a relatively ‘silent’ category with which people often signal that they are looking for a way to navigate between the categories of the religious and the secular, and considers how this is related to gendered ways of being and relating. Using a lived religion approach the contributors analyse the intersections between spirituality, religion and secularism in different geographical areas, ranging from the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy to Canada, the United States and Mexico. The chapters explore the spiritual experiences of women and their struggle for a more gender equal way of approaching the divine, as well as the experience of men and of those who challenge binary sexual identities advocating for a queer spirituality. This volume will be of interest to anthropologists and sociologists as well as scholars in other disciplines who seek to understand the role of spirituality in creating the complex gendered dynamics of modern societies.

Vol. 10 of the BSA - Series “Shareholder value”, the old, egocentric mantra of business is obsolete. Modern entrepreneurs care about society and the environment – simply because employees as well as more and more customers appreciate fair and sustainable business conduct. Enterprises try to meet this demand by implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), a strategic tool to engage with important stakeholders, build trust and enhance long-term competitiveness. SMEs are predestined for such close relations to customers and communities. But still SMEs hesitate to fully engage in CSR, mostly for their tight time resources and budgets. The authors of this book demonstrate that for SMEs in the Baltic Sea region CSR is a key to future success, that does not need to be overly sophisticated or costly. Women are still underrepresented as entrepreneurs in the Baltic Sea Region. In the second part of this book the authors look into the barriers that hinder women from starting their own business and develop strategies to change this in order to tap two of the great resources of the Baltic Sea Region – the knowledge and creativity of half its workforce. The texts in the book are printed in German or English.

Providing an in-depth look at the lives of women and girls in approximately 150 countries, this multivolume reference set offers readers transnational and postcolonial analysis of the many issues that are critical to the success of women and girls. For millennia, women around the world have shouldered the responsibility of caring for their families. But in recent decades, women have emerged as a major part of the global workforce, balancing careers and family life. How did this change happen? And how are societies in developing countries responding and adapting to women's newer roles in society? This four-volume encyclopedia examines the lives of women around the world, with coverage that includes the education of girls and teens; the key roles women play in their families, careers, religions, and cultures; how issues for women intersect with colonialism, transnationalism, feminism, and established norms of power and control. Organized geographically, each volume presents detailed entries about the lives of women in particular countries. Additionally, each volume offers sidebars that spotlight topics related to women and girls in specific regions or focus on individual women's lives and contributions. Primary source documents include sections of countries' constitutions that are relevant to women and girls, United Nations resolutions and national resolutions regarding women and girls, and religious statements and proclamations about women and girls. The organization of the set enables readers to take an in-depth look at individual countries as well as to make comparisons across countries.

This book considers gender as a convenient tool for making new boundaries within the European Union. It offers a political analysis based on sociological surveys conveyed by the author in 2008–2021. It emphasises the utmost necessity of a proper understanding of specific gender political technologies applied in ethnic and religious diasporas within the EU borders, by EU ruling elites, to avoid ideological collapse in relations with diaspora political groups and general members. The book demonstrates that uncritical application of EU gender equality programs within diasporas may transform gender to a dangerous political force destabilising the European Union. The monograph will be of interest for political science researchers, legislators, and administrators that work with political dimension of gender.