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Religion in an Expanding Europe

Timothy A Byrnes editor Peter J Katzenstein editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:23rd Mar '06

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Religion in an Expanding Europe cover

This book argues that religious factors are stumbling blocks rather than stepping stones in European integration.

As the EU expands eastwards, religious issues are of growing importance in contemporary European politics. Examining the intersection between European enlargement and the transnational religious communities of Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Islam, this book argues that religious factors are stumbling blocks rather than stepping stones toward the further integration of Europe.With political controversies raging over issues such as the wearing of headscarves in schools and the mention of Christianity in the European Constitution, religious issues are of growing importance in European politics. In this volume, Byrnes and Katzenstein analyze the effect that enlargement to countries with different and stronger religious traditions may have on the EU as a whole, and in particular on its homogeneity and assumed secular nature. Looking through the lens of the transnational religious communities of Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Islam, they argue that religious factors are stumbling blocks rather than stepping stones toward the further integration of Europe. All three religious traditions are advancing notions of European identity and European union that differ substantially from how the European integration process is generally understood by political leaders and scholars. This volume makes an important addition to the fields of European politics, political sociology, and the sociology of religion.

'[A] wonderful book by Byrnes and Katzenstein … the quality of the scholarship in the volume is consistently high … a must read for Europeanists, students of integration and the growing army of scholars studying Europeanization.' ISR Review
'… a thoughtful, thorough, well-edited book … the analysis often penetrating. Highly recommended [for] all readership levels.' Choice
'… remarkably enlightening and thought provoking.' Stanley Hoffmann, Foreign Affairs

ISBN: 9780521859264

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 24mm

Weight: 700g

364 pages