Evolution of religious landscape (Switzerland)

According to the new study juste released by the Federal Statistical Office (Switzerland)...

Between 2010 and 2021, the proportion of Roman Catholics and Reformed Protestants fell slightly (by 6 and 7 percentage points respectively), in contrast to that of Muslims and other Islamic communities (+1 point). The proportion of Jewish communities has hardly changed whereas that of persons without religious affiliation has risen by 12 percentage points.

And Evangelicals themselves may represent about 2,5% of the Swiss population.

Link

9% of the French population today are Christian, but not Catholic

According to the French national institute for statistical and economic studies (INSEE), in 2019‑2020, 51% of the population aged 18 to 59 in metropolitan France declared that they had no religion.

On the increase over the past ten years, this religious disaffiliation concerns 58% of people without immigrant ancestry, 19% of immigrants who arrived after 16 years of age and 26% of descendants of two immigrant parents. If Catholicism remains the first religion (29% of the population declares itself Catholic), Islam is declared by a growing number of faithful (10%) and confirms its place as the second religion in France. The number of people declaring another Christian religion also increases, reaching 9%.

The whole study is available here (link)

Charismatic Healers in Contemporary Africa

Congratulations to Sandra Fancello (Anthology Editor), Alessandro Gusman (Anthology Editor)for this remarkable book.

Based on ethnographic studies conducted in several African countries, this volume analyses the phenomenon of deliverance – which is promoted both in charismatic churches and in Islam as a weapon against witchcraft – in order to clarify the political dimensions of spiritual warfare in contemporary African societies. Deliverance from evil is part and parcel of the contemporary discourse on the struggle against witchcraft in most African contexts. However, contributors show how its importance extends beyond this, highlighting a pluralism of approaches to deliverance in geographically distant religious movements, which coexist in Africa. Against this background, the book reflects on the responsibilities of Pentecostal deliverance politics within the condition of 'epistemic anxiety' of contemporary African societies – to shed light on complex relational dimensions in which individual deliverance is part of a wider social and spiritual struggle.

Spanning across the study of religion, healing and politics, this book contributes to ongoing debates about witchcraft and deliverance in Africa.

Link to the publisher

Muslims in Latin American and the Caribbean (ebook)

Muslims have been shaping the Americas and the Caribbean for more than five hundred years, yet this interplay is frequently overlooked or misconstrued. Brimming with revelations that synthesize area and ethnic studies, Crescent over Another Horizon offers a great Latino American perspective on a wider Islamic world.

Already published in 2015, it is now available in ebook format.

This excellent volume includes a chapter on Martinique written by French scholar Liliane Kuczynski  (with also elements on Evangelicals, as part of the religious diversification of the isle).

Link

Eurojihad Patterns of Islamist Radicalization and Terrorism in Europe

Eurojihad examines the sources of radicalization in Muslim communities in Europe and the responses of European governments and societies. In an effort to understand the scope and dynamics of Islamist extremism and terrorism in Europe, this book takes into account recent developments, in particular the emergence of Syria as a major destination of European jihadists. Angel Rabasa and Cheryl Benard describe the history, methods, and evolution of jihadist networks in Europe (including FRANCE) with particular nuance, providing a useful primer for the layperson and a sophisticated analysis for the expert.

Read more here (link to the publisher)

France: anti-semitic violence at pro-Palestinian rally

In the first three months of 2014, Reuters reminds us that more Jews left France for Israel than at any other time since the Jewish state was created in 1948, citing economic hardships in France's stagnating economy but also rising anti-Semitism as a factor.

The riots in Sarcelles (northern subburbs of Paris) on the 20th of July, 2014 won't curb the trend: jewish shops and a synagogue were deliberatly targeted by Muslim protesters who were supposed to demonstrate for Palestine. The French government reacted very strongly, as Reuters reports here (link).

 

European Court of Human Rights upholds French full veil ban

The European Court of Human Rights has just upheld a ban by France on wearing the Muslim full-face veil - the niqab. A case was brought by a 24-year-old French woman, who argued that the ban on wearing the veil in public violated her freedom of religion and expression.

The court ruled that the ban "was not expressly based on the religious connotation of the clothing in question but solely on the fact that it concealed the face". The Strasbourg judges' decision is final - there is no appeal against it. From BBC Europe (more here, link).

Muslims and Jews in France: History of a Conflict (2014)

 

Maud Mandel is associate professor of Judaic studies and history and director of the Program in Judaic Studies at Brown University. 

Her book traces the global, national, and local origins of the conflict between Muslims and Jews in France, challenging the belief that rising anti-Semitism in France is rooted solely in the unfolding crisis in Israel and Palestine. Maud Mandel shows how the conflict in fact emerged from processes internal to French society itself even as it was shaped by affairs elsewhere, particularly in North Africa during the era of decolonization.

To read more, click here (link).

Faith in Empire: Religion.. & Colonial Rule in French Senegal

"Faith in Empire is an innovative exploration of French colonial rule in West Africa, conducted through the prism of religion and religious policy. Elizabeth Foster examines the relationships among French Catholic missionaries, colonial administrators, and Muslim, animist, and Christian Africans in colonial Senegal between 1880 and 1940. In doing so she illuminates the nature of the relationship between the French Third Republic and its colonies, reveals competing French visions of how to approach Africans..."

This Stanford University Press book published in 2013 has recently been reviewed in the French Studies quarterly (Oxford, link).

An amazing South Sudan refugee's testimony published in France

This is a book to remember. In Je suis encore vivante (transl, "Still Alive"), Mrs Naomi Baki, a young mother and refugee from South Sudan, shares a unique story of survival, from deep South Sudan to France, crossing Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Syria, Turkey and Greece, where she stayed for almost 10 years. This is a heart-wrenching story of redemption, from bondage (forced conversion into Islam), to freedom and full refugee status (10 years card residency) granted by France.

For historians, woman's right advocate, social activists, and every reader keen to learn a "bigger-than-life" story of Hope in the midst of persecution and misery, this amazing book (link) is a must-have.

Just edited by the French respected publisher Le Cerf (2013), with the much valuable help of Marie Taurand and Sophie Porteil, this book is not yet translated in English. But it will come! 

For being lucky enough to know the author, Mrs Baki, let's say she is also a wonderful and convincing speaker, particularly fluent in English (her mother tongue along with Gbaya, her tribal language).

War in Mali: a reminder that France is not "soft" on jihadists

Many different streams have built up the French left-wing tradition, including a growing trend in favour of multiculturalism, and a lasting pro-palestinian stance.

No wonder if according to polls, about 9 out of 10 French muslims voted for François Hollande (former leader of the Socialist Party) at the last presidential elections (2012).

However, it would be a mistake to conclude that the current French authorities play "soft on radical islam" and jihadists.

All the contrary! (click here to continue)

Understanding French Muslims' History: 3 films

Even more than the Evangelical growth (between 600,000 and 750,000 Evangelicals in today's France), the Muslim growth is "the" big religious news of the last 40 years.

In 2011 France, there are an estimated five million Muslims living in the country. A century ago, they were referred to as "colonials". During the 1960s, they were known as "immigrants". Today, they are "citizens".

But how have the challenges facing each generation of immigrants changed?

In order to answer to these questions, Al Jazeera just released 3 films worth beeing seen (from Karim Miské). Link