Recent books pave the way for stimulating research venues. European identity is questioned as a liminal situation and a transformative dynamic (Wydra, 2015). Confessional cultures are analysed through their impact on the attitudes and behaviors of European elites, political parties, interest groups and individuals (Nelsen and Guth, 2015). The religious dialogue is traced as a driving force in the unification of the continent (Leustean, 2014). Both religion and secularism are interpreted as narratives and symbolic resources to accommodate change and regulate political competition (Foret, 2015).
A book panel will gather the authors of these books to explore common grounds and divergences in the understanding of one of the key question for European future.
François Foret (2015), Religion and politics in the European Union, The Secular Canopy. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Lucian Leustean (2014), The Ecumenical Movement and the Making of the European Community, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Brent F. Nelsen and James L. Guth (2015), Religion and the Struggle for European Union: Confessional Culture and the Limits of Integration, Georgetown, Georgetown University Press.
Harald Wydra (2015), Politics and the Sacred, Cambridge, Cambridge UP.
