Academy of World Religions

Will man den Umgang mit religiöser Diversität in Deutschland besser verstehen, gilt es, diesen auch auf lokaler Ebene in den Blick zu nehmen
und in seinen Formen und Akteurskonstellationen sowie in seinen Mechanismen und Wirkungen aufzuschließen.

This article examines, from a sociological perspective, how religious communities and their congregations respond to religious diversity, that is the extent to which they enter into interreligious relations, and under what conditions they do so.1 Starting from a ‘dialogical turn’ – in the sense of an increasing normative claim to a dialogical organisation of social processes aimed at recognizing diversity, and taking into account the high expectations of interreligious dialogue in particular – the article explores how far this corresponds to the empirical practice of religious communities. For this, it investigates the interreligious relations between individual congregations and how these are influenced by religious affiliation, religious beliefs, social integration, and context. The results are based on a representative study in which the leaders of 350 of the 547 identified congregations in Hamburg were interviewed.

The study shows that interreligious relations between congregations are a relevant phenomenon in the religious field and for its transformation in the course of pluralisation and secularisation. However, interreligious relations do not automatically result from religious diversity. Rather, they need to be developed and depend both on their position in the religious
field and the degree to which the congregation is integrated into society at large. The high commitment to interreligious relations among Muslim and other non-Christian congregations in particular suggests an advanced process of integration (rather than the existence of ‘parallel societies’). Even though religious beliefs turn out not to be essential for interreligious relations, exclusivist attitudes, however, continue to be a challenge in plural societies and require further empirical research.

The contribution is structured as follows: Against the backdrop of interreligious dialogue as a normative concept, the relevance of interreligious relations is first established as the empirical object of investigation of this study (1). Based on the assumption that interreligious relations cannot be considered as isolated from the context, the city of Hamburg is outlined in its relevant aspects as the study area that is of interest here (2). Subsequently the research question of how far interreligious relations are built and how they are influenced is considered theoretically and against the background of the research status in order to derive substantiated hypotheses from it (3). This is followed by specifications on method, sample, and the included variables (4). In the results section, the findings of the data analysis are first presented (5), before then being discussed and interpreted (6).

With regards to the religious situation, Germany still is a highly divided country. This draws our attention to the specific characteristics of IRD-activities in the eastern parts of Germany. Based on literature review and mapping exercises, we will argue, firstly, that the interreligious dialogue scene in East Germany is characterized by a comparatively low density of activities that are primarily embedded into major religious and state-related organizational structures. Secondly, we will discuss potential explanations of this lower dialogue level with regards to present-day socio-cultural differences and asymmetries between East and West Germany. Thirdly, we argue that the case of East Germany gives evidence to pay particular attention to numerically smaller religious groups within IRD as well as religiously unaffiliated parts of society. Consequently, we have to rethink the conceptualization of IRD in view of secularization as the dominant tendency in many European countries.

This article examines, from a sociological perspective, how religious communities and their congregations respond to religious diversity, that is the extent to which they enter into interreligious relations, and under what conditions they do so.1 Starting from a ‘dialogical turn’ – in the sense of an increasing normative claim to a dialogical organisation of social processes aimed at recognizing diversity, and taking into account the high expectations of interreligious dialogue in particular – the article explores how far this corresponds to the empirical practice of religious communities. For this, it investigates the interreligious relations between individual congregations and how these are influenced by religious affiliation, religious beliefs, social integration, and context. The results are based on a representative study in which the leaders of 350 of the 547 identified congregations in Hamburg were interviewed. The study shows that interreligious relations between congregati...

With regards to the religious situation, Germany still is a highly divided country. This draws our attention to the specific characteristics of IRD-activities in the eastern parts of Germany. Based on literature review and mapping exercises, we will argue, firstly, that the interreligious dialogue scene in East Germany is characterized by a comparatively low density of activities that are primarily embedded into major religious and state-related organizational structures. Secondly, we will discuss potential explanations of this lower dialogue level with regards to present-day socio-cultural differences and asymmetries between East and West Germany. Thirdly, we argue that the case of East Germany gives evidence to pay particular attention to numerically smaller religious groups within IRD as well as religiously unaffiliated parts of society. Consequently, we have to rethink the conceptualization of IRD in view of secularization as the dominant tendency in many European countries.

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The aim of this paper is to unfold Peter L. Berger's new paradigm of the BTwo Pluralisms^for the German context, concretizing and localizing the management of religious plurality with regard to central societal fields. It is argued that, besides the bird's-eye view of the global and national developments, more differentiated analyses of smaller-scale units (like federal states, municipalities, and cities) are needed which zoom into the concrete local negotiation processes, opening them up with regard to their topics, actor constellations, dynamics, and effects. While Berger builds up his new paradigm in the connection of the social macro-level and the individual micro-level, this paper deals primarily with the meso-level and the consequences of the BTwo Pluralisms^in the institutional contexts of politics/law, education, symbolic representation, and communication that are currently undergoing a significant change through secularization and religious pluralization while, however, have so far hardly been examined with regard to their dynamics and the intended integrative effects.

Religious pluralization in line with participatory policy approaches has led to a new field of cooperative governance of religious diversity. This article explores the collaboration between state and (inter-) religious actors in two metropolitan regions in Germany, namely Hamburg and Rhine-Ruhr. Drawing upon qualitative fieldwork, this article provides a systematic analysis of discursive and structural measures of state-interfaith governance in the two regions. It clearly shows that state-interfaith governance gains in importance and is practiced in various forms depending on the contextual setting. Based on this, comparative case analysis shows that state-interfaith governance in Germany is characterized by (1) a prominent role of the established churches; (2) a potential of accommodating religious diversity which is, however, restricted by a narrow orientation of the world-religion model and the predominant focus on Islam; and (3) takes place in a complex multi level setting which...

This contribution discusses whether specific German policy instruments developed to govern relations between the state and religious communities are a decisive step towards legal equality or of limited impact when extended to non-Christian religious minorities. I research the effects of the 2012 'contracts' concluded between the city's government and the Muslim and Alevi communities in the German city (state) of Hamburg by drawing on academic research, analysing official documents and interviewing city officials and local politicians. I find that the contracts are a decisive step towards legal equality but bring with them shortcomings that show the limited impact of contract governance measured against the complex reality of (non-)religious life in contemporary societies.

Wer sich derzeit zu Religionsdebatten in Deutschland äußert, kann die Kontroversen über den "Kreuz-Erlass" der Bayerischen Staatsregierung nicht ignorieren. In dem Beitrag wird der bisherige Verlauf der Auseinandersetzung nachgezeichnet, die exemplarische Dynamiken aufzeigt.

ZusammenfassungDer Beitrag liefert auf Grundlage eines Forschungsreviews erstmals einen systematischen und differenzierten Überblick zur empirischen Befundlage zum islamischen Religionsunterricht (IRU) in Deutschland. Der IRU erweist sich zunehmend als Gegenstand einer dezidiert empirischen, disziplinübergreifenden Forschung, in der sich die mehrdimensionale Interessenlage ihm gegenüber spiegelt, sich im Bildungssystem zu etablieren und gleichzeitig integrationspolitischen Ansprüchen gerecht zu werden. Dabei wird sowohl unmittelbar gegenstandbezogenes als auch kontextuelles Wissen zum IRU generiert, wobei die Forschung häufig eher (extrinsisch) auf den IRU im Verhältnis zur Gesellschaft und dessen Legitimation, Akzeptanz und Nutzen und weniger (intrinsisch) auf das Verstehen und die Entwicklung des IRU ausgerichtet ist. Daraus resultieren drei zentrale Erkenntnisse: Erstens liefert die bisherige Forschung wichtige Befunde, erlaubt jedoch kaum verlässliche und verallgemeinerbare Auss...

Als uns die Nachricht von dem Anschlag auf koptische Christen in Alexandria erreichte, wollte es uns nicht mehr angemessen erscheinen, Theologisches zu erörtern. Wir sind erschrocken, traurig und wütend. Dieser Anschlag trifft uns in besonderer Weise, denn das IZIR [sc. Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Islamische Religionslehre] unterhält enge Verbindungen nach Ägypten. Seit einigen Jahren führen Mitarbeiter des IZIR in Kooperation mit der Deutschen Evangelischen Oberschule in Kairo Lehrerfortbildungen für die deutschen Auslandsschulen in Ländern des islamischen Kulturraums durch. Darin integriert sind auch unsere koptischen Kollegen. Im Frühjahr 2010 nahmen 20 Studierende unserer Universität an einem Seminar zum Modell des Kooperativen Religionsunterrichts in Kairo teil, verbunden mit Besuchen in Synagogen, Kirchen, Moscheen und koptischen Klöstern. Demnächst werden wir mit den Teilnehmerinnen unseres kürzlich ausgeschriebenen Praktikums für einen Monat in Ägypten sein und das in Rede stehende Unterrichtsmodell fachwissenschaftlich und fachdidaktisch vertiefen. Das jüngste Ereignis stellt uns auf drastische Weise vor die Frage nach der theologischen und pädagogischen Tragfähigkeit unserer Arbeit -auch in Deutschland. Wir möchten Sie an dieser Stelle bitten: Beten Sie nach Ihrer Façon zu dem einen und gemeinsamen Gott aller Menschen, er möge es nicht zulassen, dass die Saat von Neid, Hass und Irrationalität in den Herzen der Menschen aufgeht, sondern Zuversicht, Gelassenheit und Vernunft die Oberhand behalten, und er möge in Zukunft rechtzeitig einen Engel schicken, der dem Übeltäter in die Arme fällt.

This contribution discusses whether specific German policy instruments developed to govern relations between the state and religious communities are a decisive step towards legal equality or of limited impact when extended to non-Christian religious minorities. I research the effects of the 2012 'contracts' concluded between the city's government and the Muslim and Alevi communities in the German city (state) of Hamburg by drawing on academic research, analysing official documents and interviewing city officials and local politicians. I find that the contracts are a decisive step towards legal equality but bring with them shortcomings that show the limited impact of contract governance measured against the complex reality of (non-)religious life in contemporary societies.

Obschon Saudi Arabien im Zuge der Berichterstattung über den "Arabischen Frühling" hierzulande eher selten in den Medien auftaucht und die Legitimität des saudi-arabischen Königshauses von der Bevölkerung bisher nicht ernsthaft in Frage gestellt wurde, bleibt auch das Königreich nicht von den Auswirkungen der Umbrüche in anderen, teils benachbarten Staaten verschont. Wie auch in den meisten anderen arabischen Staaten fand zwar in den letzten 25 Jahren eine wirtschaftliche und technologische Öffnung des Landes statt; das politische System blieb jedoch rigide und die sozialen und kulturellen Möglichkeiten stellen sich im arabischen Vergleich als extrem eingeschränkt dar. Dabei liegen die Gründe ftir eine ausbleibende Revolution u. a. möglicherweise darin, dass reformerische Kräfte in der Bevölkerung bisher mehrheitlich wenig Unterstützung genießen. 1 Im Prinzip kann man sagen, dass es heutzutage im Zuge einer voranschreitenden gesellschaftlichen Pluralisierung nicht mehr nur die ftir die Staatsgründung grundlegende wahhabitische Islamauslegung ist, die die saudiarabische Bevölkerung eint, sondern insbesondere das saudiarabische Königshaus, zu welchem selbst dessen Kritikerinnen bisher keine realistische bzw. wünschenswerte Alternative sehen. Außerdem scheint der Stand der soziodemographischen Entwicklung, in welcher Saudi Arabien den übrigen arabischen Staaten ca. fünf bis zehn Jahre hinterher ist, eine bedeutende Rolle ftir den Zeitpunkt umwälzender gesellschaftlicher Prozesse zu spielen? In Sachen Reformen könnte dies eine bescheidene Schonfrist ftir das Königreich darstellen. Über die Lage der Frauen in Saudi Arabien wird in den deutschen Medien, von ein paar rühmlichen Ausnahmen mal abgesehen 3 , überwiegend undifferenziert negativ berichtet. Die juristische Lage stellt eine Seite der Medaille dar: Zweifelsohne

Der tschechische Historiker Miroslav Hroch teilt in seiner Abhandlung Das Erwachen kleiner Nationen als Problem der komparativen sozialgeschichtlichen Forschung die Entstehung der nationalen Bewegungen der "kleinen Nationen" in drei Phasen auf. In der ersten Phase I (Phase A) handelt es sich um das "Erwachen" des Interesses einiger Persönlichkeiten aus dem Bildungsbürgertum für die völkische Kultur und Sprache. So formuliert Hroch: "An der Schwelle liegt die Phase des gelehrten Interesses und der Vorliebe einiger Einzelpersonen für das Nationale-etwa im Sinne des aufklärerischen Durstes nach neuen Erkenntnissen.,,2 Dieses Interesse ist rein kulturell-literarisch und trägt noch keine politisch-ideologischen Züge.