Religion and Civil Human Rights in Empirical Perspective

Religion and Civil Human Rights in Empirical Perspective
Author: Hans-Georg Ziebertz
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2017-10-20
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319592858

This volume offers an empirical perspective on the so-called first generation of human rights. It explores the legitimization of these human rights by individual people, both because of their religion and because of their vision of what constitutes human dignity. The book addresses such issues as the foundation of human rights, the necessity of a broader conversation about human rights, aspects of freedom of religion, and the role of religion in Belarus, Britain, Chile, Germany, Italy, Nigeria, Norway and Tanzania. Taking an international comparative perspective, the volume answers the question as to what extent adolescents in different countries support civil human rights and what influences their attitudes towards these rights. As the diversity of the contributions in this volume shows, the relationship between religion and civil human rights is complex and multifaceted. Studying this complicated relationship calls for a variety of theoretical perspectives and rigorous empirical testing in different national contexts. This book’s empirical approach provides an important complementary perspective for legal, political and public debates.

International Empirical Studies on Religion and Socioeconomic Human Rights

International Empirical Studies on Religion and Socioeconomic Human Rights
Author: Hans-Georg Ziebertz
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 327
Release: 2021-08-26
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9783030309367

Socioeconomic rights include rights with regard to social security, labour and employment, as well as cultural rights which may be regarded as a shield for the protection of human dignity, especially of specific groups, such as women, children and refugees. The enforceability of socioeconomic rights clearly distinguishes them from other rights. These rights need, perhaps more than others, the support of civil society. Because states have leeway in how resources are distributed, civil society has a major impact on what resources are used to fulfil socio-economic rights. One of the actors in the public arena are religious traditions, respective Churches. Most of them have developed ethical standards for individual conduct and rules for living together in society based on their basic scriptures. All three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are marked by a caring engagement for the poor, the sick, the old and the foreign. From an empirical perspective, the general research question of this volume is how young people understand and evaluate socioeconomic rights and to which degree religious convictions and practices are connected with attitudes towards these human rights. Can religion be identified as a force supporting the human rights regime and which additional concepts strengthen or weaken the consent to these rights? The richness of empirical data contributes to a better understanding how socioeconomic rights are legitimated in the opinion of more than 10.000 respondents in 14 countries.

Religion, Education and Human Rights

Religion, Education and Human Rights
Author: Anders Sjöborg
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2017-04-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319540696

This book examines the interconnectedness between religion, education, and human rights from an international perspective using an interdisciplinary approach. It deals with compulsory or secondary school education in different contexts, as well as higher education, and has as its common theme the multiplicity of secularisms in different national contexts. Presenting rich cases, the contributions include empirical and theoretical perspectives on how international trends of migration and cultural diversity, as well as judicialization of social and political processes, and rapid religious and social changes come into play as societies find their way in an increasingly diverse context. The book contains chapters that present case studies on how confessional or non-confessional Religious Education (RE) at schools in different societal contexts is related to the concept of universal human rights. It presents cases studies that display an intriguing array of problems that point to the role of religion in the public sphere and show that historical contexts play important and different roles. Other contributions deal with higher education, where one questions how human rights as a concept and as discourse is taught and examines whether withdrawing from certain clinical training when in university education to become a medical doctor or a midwife on the grounds of conscientious objections can be claimed as a human right. From a judicial point of view one chapter discerns the construction of the concept of religion in the Swedish Education Act, in relation to the Swedish constitution as well European legislation. Finally, an empirical study comparing data from young people in six different countries in three continents investigates factors that explain attitudes towards human rights.

Religion, Citizenship and Democracy

Religion, Citizenship and Democracy
Author: Alexander Unser
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 274
Release: 2022-01-03
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3030832775

This innovative volume is focused on the impact of religion on the realization of democratic citizenship. The researchers contributing provide empirical evidence on how religion influences attitudes towards citizenship and democracy in different countries. The book also tackles the challenges and opportunities for citizenship education. Experts contributing from sociology, political science, theology, and educational science look at the impact of religious beliefs and practices on democratic attitudes and behavior. Chapters also concern how religion influences the recognition of others as citizens. The text appeals to graduates and researchers in these fields with a secondary market for the general interest reader.

Understanding Religion

Understanding Religion
Author: Ulrich Riegel
Publisher: Waxmann Verlag
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2019-10-14
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3830990545

Today, religion is a complex issue. In Western Europe, the so-called “Christian heritage” is challenged by both other religious traditions and secular worldviews. It is therefore essential to understand the complexity of religion in different contexts. This volume addresses four questions in this regard: How can we assess religion and religiosity appropriately? What are important markers of religiosity? How does religion affect recent society? How can religion be taught in modern society? By dealing with these questions, the contributions to this volume offer an insight into the recent state-of-the-art of research on religion and religiosity within the field of religious education on an international level.

Freedom of Religion in the 21st Century

Freedom of Religion in the 21st Century
Author: Hans-Georg Ziebertz
Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2015-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9789004296770

Religions around the world show support, ambivalence and antagonism towards the right to freedom of religion. Legal and political debates are affected by these profound differences. In this book an international group of scholars offer theoretical and empirical analyses.

International Empirical Studies on Religion and Socioeconomic Human Rights

International Empirical Studies on Religion and Socioeconomic Human Rights
Author: Hans-Georg Ziebertz
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 330
Release: 2020-03-06
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3030309347

Socioeconomic rights include rights with regard to social security, labour and employment, as well as cultural rights which may be regarded as a shield for the protection of human dignity, especially of specific groups, such as women, children and refugees. The enforceability of socioeconomic rights clearly distinguishes them from other rights. These rights need, perhaps more than others, the support of civil society. Because states have leeway in how resources are distributed, civil society has a major impact on what resources are used to fulfil socio-economic rights. One of the actors in the public arena are religious traditions, respective Churches. Most of them have developed ethical standards for individual conduct and rules for living together in society based on their basic scriptures. All three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, are marked by a caring engagement for the poor, the sick, the old and the foreign. From an empirical perspective, the general research question of this volume is how young people understand and evaluate socioeconomic rights and to which degree religious convictions and practices are connected with attitudes towards these human rights. Can religion be identified as a force supporting the human rights regime and which additional concepts strengthen or weaken the consent to these rights? The richness of empirical data contributes to a better understanding how socioeconomic rights are legitimated in the opinion of more than 10.000 respondents in 14 countries.

Religion and Human Rights

Religion and Human Rights
Author: Hans-Georg Ziebertz
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2015-01-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 3319097318

This book examines the relationship between human rights and religiosity. It discusses whether the impact of religiosity on human rights is liberational or suppressive, and sheds light on the direction in which the relationship between religion and human rights is expected to develop. The questions explored in this volume are: Which are the rights that are currently debated or under pressure? What is the position on human rights that churches and religious communities represent? Are there tensions between churches, religious communities and the state? Which rights are especially relevant for young people and which relate to adolescents life-world experiences? Covering 17 countries, the book describes two separate, yet connected studies. The first study presents research by experts from individual countries describing the state of human rights and neuralgic points anticipated in individual societies. The other study presents specific findings on the relationship between these two social phenomena from empirical research in a population of high school students. Studying this particular population allows insights into social trends, value systems and attitudes on human rights, as well as an indication of the likely directions of development, and potential room for intervention.

Tensions within and between Religions and Human Rights

Tensions within and between Religions and Human Rights
Author: Johannes A. van der Ven
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2012-03-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9004218696

This volume contains theoretical and empirical articles on tensions within and between religion and human rights. There are conflicts in the past histories of Christianity and Islam in regard to human rights, but also in contemporary history. There are also tensions in the sphere of human rights, like the relation between natural law and human rights, morality and law, liberty and equality, civil rights and socio-economic rights, and more specific ones, like the rights of humans and citizens, religious freedom and the separation of church and state, religious freedom and freedom of speech, and the state and religion on social welfare provisions. The volume aims at theoretical clarification and empirical exploration on data from 14 countries. Contributors include: Jean-Pierre Wils, Piet Hein van Kempen, Mathias Rohe, Johannes (Hans) van der Ven, Anders Sjöborg, Raymond J. Webb, Jack Curran, Marion Reindl, Leo W.J.M. van der Tuin, Clement D. Fumbo, and Hans-Georg Ziebertz.

Political and Judicial Rights through the Prism of Religious Belief

Political and Judicial Rights through the Prism of Religious Belief
Author: Carl Sterkens
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2018-10-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319773534

This innovative volume is focused on the relationship between religion on the one hand and political and judicial rights on the other. At a time when the so-called ‘checks and balances’ that guarantee the vulnerable equilibrium between legislative, executive and judicial branches of governance are increasingly under pressure, this book offers valuable insights. It presents empirical work that has measured young people’s attitudes and explains the variety found across their views. Readers will find answers to the question: To what extent do youths in different countries support political and judicial human rights and what influences their attitudes towards these rights? The political rights in this question include, among others, active and passive voting right, the right to protest, and the rights of refugees. Judicial rights refer in general to the right of a fair trial, and include principles like equality before the law; the right to independent and impartial judgement; the presumption of innocence; the right to legal counsel; and the privilege against self-incrimination. Expert contributing authors look at aspects such as religious beliefs and practices, personal evaluation of state authorities, and personality characteristics. The authors discuss contextual determinants for attitudes towards political and judicial rights, in both theory and empirical indicators. Numerous helpful tables and figures support the written word. This book makes an original contribution to research through the empirical clarification of factors that induce or reduce people’s support of political and judicial rights. It will appeal to graduates and researchers in religious studies, philosophy or sociology of religion, among other disciplines, but it will also interest the general reader who is concerned with matters of human rights and social justice.