This open access book brings into dialogue emerging and seasoned migration and religion scholars with spiritual leaders and representatives of faith-based organizations assisting refugees. Violent conflicts, social unrest, and other humanitarian crises around the world have led to growing numbers of people seeking refuge both in the North and in the South. Migrating and seeking refuge have always been part and parcel of spiritual development. However, the current 'refugee crisis' in Europe and elsewhere in the world has brought to the fore fervent discussions regarding the role of religion in defining difference, linking the ‘refugee crisis’ with Islam, and fear of the ‘Other.’ Many religious institutions, spiritual leaders, and politicians invoke religious values and call for strict border controls to resolve the ‘refugee crisis.’ However, equally many humanitarian organizations and refugee advocates use religious values to inform their call to action to welcome refugees and migrants, provide them with assistance, and facilitate integration processes. This book includes three distinct but inter-related parts focusing, respectively, on politics, values, and discourses mobilized by religious beliefs; lived experiences of religion, with a particular emphasis on identity and belonging among various refugee groups; and faith and faith actors and their responses to forced migration.
Author(s): Elżbieta M. Goździak, Izabella Main
Series: Politics of Citizenship and Migration
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 199
City: Cham
Acknowledgments
Praise for Debating Religion and Forced Migration Entanglements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
1 What’s God Got to Do with It? Debating Religion and Forced Migration Entanglements
Religion and Spirituality
Religion and Forced Migration Nexus
Religious Persecution
Religion and Trauma
Religion in the “Refugee Crisis”
Existing Knowledge: Religion in Refugee Studies
Our Contributions to the Unfolding Debates
References
Part I Politics, Values, and Discourses: Religious and Secular
2 Contesting Flexible Solidarity: Secular and Religious Support for Refugees in Hungary
Introduction
Data and Methodology
Concepts and Frameworks
Promoting Flexible Solidarity
Deserving and Undeserving Refugees
Religious Leaders’ Attempts to Welcome the Stranger
Contesting Flexible Solidarity
Spontaneous Expressions of Solidarity
Established Secular Charity and Aid Organizations
Faith-Based Networks
Human Rights Organizations
International Organizations
In Conclusion
Notes
References
3 Thou Shalt Not Deport? Religious Ethical Discourse and the Politics of Asylum in Poland and Israel
Introduction
Methods
A Brief Chronology of the Asylum Debate in Poland and Israel
Religious Ethics and the Politics of Migration in Israel and Poland
Thou Shalt Love Thy Foreigner: Neighborliness and Pro-Asylum Policy
Ordro Caritatis or Aniyey Ircha Kodmim: Religious Ethics and Anti-Asylum Policy
Conclusions
References
Part II Lived Experiences of Religion: Belonging and Identity
4 Time and Topos in Migratory Trajectories: Mapping Memory and Lived Experiences of Religion Among Syrian Refugees in Norway
Introduction
Research Background and Methodology
Entanglements of Religion in Conflict-Induced Displacement
Time and Topos: Mapping Migratory Paths and Horizons
Utopia: Negotiating Past and Future Forms of Coexistence
Dystopia: Negotiating War, Violence, and Religious Identity Othering
Heterotopia: Negotiating Religion Through the In-Betweens of Displacement and Exile
Exile: Negotiating New Spaces of Experiences and Horizons of Expectations
Conclusion
Note
References
5 “Emerging Forms of Authority in Land Access?”: The Occult and Witchcraft Among Malawian Migrants in Peri-urban Zimbabwe
Introduction and Background
Methodological Note
Lydiate: A Brief Background
The Nyau Cult
The Nyau Cult as a Form of Authority in Access to and Security Over Land
Witchcraft as a Form of Authority in Securing Land
Conclusions
Note
References
6 Religion Constructed, Imagined, and Experienced: The Case of Syrian Refugees in Turkey
In the Face of the Syrian Civil War
Reception and Support
Between Religion and Secularism
Rhetoric Concerning Syrians
Lived Experiences: Religion That Connects
Lived Experiences: Beyond Faith
Summary
References
Part III Faith and Faith Actors in Responses to Forced Migration
7 We Shall Overcome: A Case Study of the LGBT Asylum Task Force, a Parish Ministry
Introduction
LGBT Asylum Seekers and Religion
LGBT People and Forced Migration
Profile of the LGBT Asylum Task Force
Development of the Task Force
Operations and Achievements
Challenges
Conclusion
References
8 Religion Resettles Refugees: Religion’s Role in Integration in the United States
Introduction
The Religion and Resettlement Project
Scope of the Project
Understanding Refugee and Refugee-Related Religion
Reflections and Next Steps
Conclusion
Note
References
9 “I Was a Stranger and You Invited Me in”: A Christian Perspective on the Humanitarian Crisis at the Poland–Belarus Border
Introduction
Shreds of Information
The Crisis at the Border as a Response to the Other
Violence Towards Activists
“Empathizers” and “Utopian Humanitarianism”
Dehumanizing Refugees
Simply Be Human
References
10 Religion and Forced Migration at the Crossroads
References
Index
