Religious Minorities Research Articles

8.N. Scientific session: Transferability and adaptation of vaccination interventions: Learning from underserved communities

Abstract Removing barriers in the health system that make it difficult for cultural, religious or ethnic minorities to access vaccinations is an urgent concern in order to prevent infectious diseases in the future. Childhood vaccine uptake for MMR and HPV in most underserved communities is lower than in the general population. The project RIVER-EU (Reducing Inequalities in Vaccine uptake in the European region - Engaging Underserved communities) engages the migrant community in Greece, females with a Turkish or Moroccan migration background in the Netherlands, the Ukrainian minority in Poland and marginalized Roma communities in Slovakia to remove health system barriers to vaccination. Barriers include, e.g., lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate information, financial barriers, insufficient capacities, coordination and delivery of health care. Based on a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach we selected and adapted potentially transferable evidence-based interventions in partnership with the communities. First, we pre-selected 6 useful interventions from a realist review on 36 effective vaccine uptake interventions. Second, we assessed them in depth for their transferability. Building a bridge between evidence on interventions and community needs is not an easy task: We involved various stakeholders in a longitudinal process under consideration of contextual conditions in the primary intervention context and the context of the respective underserved community. We co-created knowledge through 25 workshops and 39 interviews or focus groups for decision-making and determining need for adaptation of selected interventions. The aim of this workshop is to present the results of this co-creative process in each country. Special attention is payed to facilitators and barriers for transferability of evidence-based interventions from the perspective of underserved communities, and contextual commonalities and differences that lead to a specific intervention tailoring. This workshop will contribute to an improved understanding of how to consider contextual needs underserved communities have to remove health system barriers to vaccination on the one hand and suitable evidence on interventions to improve their situation on the other hand. The workshop will include five presentations of eight minutes and a questions and answers session to involve the audience. First, an introductory presentation on transferability of interventions for HPV and MMR vaccine uptake to underserved communities in specific contexts will be given. Then each country will present the intervention(s) to address health system barriers adapted to their context. Thereby, we will underline common key elements that have potential for transferability in all countries. After all presentations, we will discuss the need for context-based decision-making on evidence-based interventions and intervention tailoring to improve vaccine uptake for cultural, religious or ethnic minorities. Key messages • Improving vaccine uptake in underserved communities requires local solutions with tailored interventions. Trusted partnerships with various stakeholders are key to reducing health system barriers. • Participatory approaches to evidence-informed decision-making build bridges between evidence on interventions and needs of underserved communities to understand the transferability of interventions.

An Unpublished Manuscript of Hugo Grotius: ‘On Public Partnership with Unbelievers’ (De societate publica cum infidelibus): Introduction, Transcription and English Translation

Abstract This introduction presents an analysis of Grotius’s treatise ‘On Public Partnership with Unbelievers’ (De societate publica cum infidelibus). It was probably written between 1606 and 1609, when Grotius served as a legal advisor of the Dutch East India Company (voc). In his treatise, Grotius explains what kinds of partnerships with non-Christians are permissible under divine and natural law. These include public partnerships, such as treaties and military alliances, but also private associations, such as commercial contracts, marriages and relations of servitude. As we argue in this introduction, De societate can be interpreted as a general treatise on legal partnerships with non-Christians, which relates both to the voc’s policies of treaty and alliance-making in the East Indies and to debates about the legal status of religious minorities in the Dutch Republic.

The French Debate over On the Jewish Question: From an Anachronistic Trial to the Crisis of Secularism

Abstract This article analyses the debate over an ‘antisemitic Marx’ in the French context. Since the republication of On the Jewish Question in the aftermath of the Six-Day War, the French intellectual field has seen continuous conflict between supporters of this ‘thesis’ (Mishari, Kaplan, Birnbaum) and their detractors, who are sometimes militant (J. Aron, Bensaïd) and sometimes academic (De Fontenay, Traverso), including those involved in the Grande édition Marx et Engels (Clochec). First, the article examines at length the French debate which spans over 50 years. Second, building on the insights garnered from this debate, it tackles the limits of materialist criticism of religious views. In light of the contemporary crisis of secularism in France, this problem forces Marxist and critical thinkers (Tosel, Meziane) to reassess the issue of religious minorities and their ‘assimilation’ to the ‘national majority’.

Politicization of the Jewish and Muslim minorities in Poland

With Poland’s political transformation after 1989, religious minorities including Jews and Muslims gained more autonomy and support from the state authorities. At the same time, the liberal democracy principles of religious equality and the state’s neutrality have still not been fully implemented. The paper focuses on this problematic situation, using the concept of politicization to portray the situation of the Jews and Muslims in contemporary Poland, and their relations with the Polish state. It presents four instances of politicization of religious minorities (specifically, Muslims and/or Jews). The research is based on public surveys, interviews with members of the Jewish and Muslim communities, legal documents, and NGO reports. According to the hypothesis of the paper, Muslims and Jews are significantly politicized in the Polish public discourse, and both communities play significant roles in shaping the political identity of the Polish polity. Their roles differ in character due to historical factors and the contemporary international context.

Pastoral Reflection on Depictions of Contemporary Religious Subcultures in Online Discussions: An Analysis of Stereotypes (A Case Study from Slovakia)

In terms of ethnic and religious characteristics, the majority of the Slovak population identifies with Slovak nationality and Christianity. Recent quantitative and qualitative research on the value orientations of Slovaks has revealed negative stereotypical and dismissive attitudes towards “difference”, which is often perceived as “non-Slovak” or “not ours”. In this social, cultural, and religious context, the question arises as to what understanding and tolerance of religious expressions can be expected in the current, often conflict-ridden society and what pastoral challenges arise from this. The aim of the research was to identify whom participants in online discussions consider to be the most “different” from themselves, which specific attributes of other religious subcultures (i.e., those other than the majority Christian) the discussants consider the most “different”, and how they evaluate this “difference”. The research method used was critical discourse analysis (CDA), which focuses on identifying and addressing social issues by analysing how these problems are presented in language—in our case, in written online comments within selected online discussions. The research confirms that the attitude of participants in online discussions towards the differences of other religious groups in the context of Slovakia is often accompanied by suspicion and majority negativism. The research findings point to the need for in-depth research focusing on the meaning and practical possibilities of reducing the social distance of the majority population concerning religious and ethnic minorities.

THE TRAGEDY OF FELIX FRANKFURTER: FROM CIVIL LIBERTIES AND CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST TO REACTIONARY JUSTICE

This article reconsiders the life and record of Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter. Frankfurter was smart, hardworking, and talented, serving as a great activist lawyer and important law professor in his early career. When nominated to the court, there were high hopes he would follow Holmes and Brandeis in leading a progressive Court that would protect civil liberties and minority rights. However, it was not to be. On the Court Frankfurter became increasingly conservative and ultimately reactionary. In his opinions, he upheld persecution and discrimination of religious and racial minorities, occasionally hindered racial justice and civil liberties efforts, and opposed due process in criminal trials and fairness in elections. Arrogant and dismissive, he constantly fought with his brethren, alienating almost all of them. In the end Frankfurter was far too often on the wrong side of history, liberty and the law, and even legal ethics. The tragedy of Frankfurter is that he abandoned the constitutional rights and protections that he supported from his graduation from law school until he donned his robes. He could have been a great justice. Sadly, he was not.

Exploring the Dimensions of Religious Freedom: A Global and Comparative Analysis

Religion constitutes a fundamental aspect of the cultural and spiritual lives of individuals globally, encompassing an array of traditions, rituals, and practices. Within the context of liberal democracy's evolution, religion emerges as a critical element of political liberty and personal conscience. On an international scale, the right to religious freedom has been established as a core human right, essential for the sustenance of democratic governance. Despite its recognition, the right to religious liberty remains a highly contentious issue. Even in democracies that provide constitutional protections for religious freedom, debates persist regarding the extensive interpretation and implementation of this right, particularly concerning the rights of religious minorities within these nations. This study explores the concept of religious freedom as a globally recognized right, examining its representation and interpretation across various international and regional legal frameworks. Through this analysis, the paper endeavors to provide a comprehensive overview of religious freedom on both a global and regional scale. Furthermore, it delves into the state of religious freedom in various political systems, ranging from democracies such as United States to theocracies and monarchies like the United Kingdom and countries characterized by a strict demarcation between religion and state affairs, exemplified by France's secularist approach.

Redefining Protection: Challenges and Solutions in Safeguarding Religious Minorities within International and Regional Legal Frameworks

This paper examines the challenges in defining and safeguarding religious minorities within international and regional legal frameworks. It explores the main research question of how existing legal instruments and definitions impact the protection of religious minorities and aims to propose recommendations for improving these protections. Through a literature review and critical analysis of international and regional legal frameworks, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and various regional instruments, the paper identifies significant gaps and inconsistencies in current protections. Key issues highlighted include the lack of a universally accepted definition of religious minorities, the limitations of international and regional instruments, and the varying interpretations of religious rights by bodies such as the European Court of Human Rights. The paper concludes with recommendations for clearer definitions, more robust legal provisions, and enhanced international and regional cooperation to better safeguard the rights of religious minorities. The findings emphasize the need for more effective approaches to protecting religious diversity and ensuring proper representation.

What Explains Voting for DENK: Issues, Discrimination or In-group Favouritism?

ABSTRACT Why do ethnic and religious minorities vote for DENK? DENK is the first pro-Turkey and pro-Islam party represented in Dutch parliament, led by Turkish- and Moroccan-origin politicians who openly profess to practicing Islam. Drawing on an original survey (N= 905) among Dutch voters in which we oversampled those with Turkish, Moroccan and Surinamese roots, we put three possible explanations to the test: issues, discrimination and in-group favouritism. Each subsample is religiously mixed and includes Muslims and/or Christians and voters who are not religious. While ethnic in-group favouritism, feelings of belonging in the Netherlands, experiences with discrimination and issues sometimes explain voting for DENK, Muslim in-group favouritism is the decisive factor. These findings contribute to understanding voting behaviour in increasingly religiously diverse European immigration societies.

Revisiting dark pasts: the portrayal of Jewish minority and audience responses to the Netflix series The Club

ABSTRACT The Club, a Turkish series exclusively produced for Netflix, challenges the official historical narrative of modern Turkey by depicting the experiences of minorities on the brink of the country’s political upheaval. It highlights the state’s complex relations with its minorities and historical events that are often silenced in the official historical narrative. This study looks at how Turkey’s dark pasts pertaining to its religious minorities are portrayed in The Club and the ways in which its audience respond to these dark pasts. It argues that the audience of The Club recreates the silences about the past, resulting in the denial or rationalization of state violence, while emphasizing a nostalgic multi-cultural past.

Sweden: multiculturalism and specifics of religious freedom’s realization in secular state

Sweden has a long history of being a monoconfessional state. However, in the 20th – 21st centuries the composition of Swedish society has changed, leading the country into a crisis caused by the policy of ignoring the needs of ethnic and religious minorities. In recent years, multidisciplinary research works have been focused on finding a ground of the current social and political destabilization in this country caused by on-going religion- and ethic-based conflicts between its nationals. Some of them suggest that Sweden is not a secular but a clerical state, others – that there is a gap in its legislation.The author of the article offers another point of view, according to which, the Swedish law enforcer distorts the constitutional and legal meaning of the provisions on religious freedom that occurs under the influence of historical specifics of the development of Swedish law, hence the lack of uniformity in law enforcement practice for the implementation of this fundamental human right.The subject of the study is the norms of the legislation of Sweden, including historical legal acts and documents, as well as relevant court cases and key findings of domestic and foreign research works.Objective: to prove the influence of historical specifics of the development of Swedish law on the current legal enforcement practice under which the distortion of the constitutional and legal meaning by the Swedish law enforcement takes place.Methods: the author employs a combination of general (content-analysis, case-study, formal logical method, generalization etc.) and private scientific methods (formal judicial methods, concrete sociological method of studying state and legal phenomena etc).Results: The obtained results demonstrate that Swedish law enforcement has been given an opportunity for a broad interpretation of constitutional norms. The author identifies the distortion of the constitutional and legal meaning in provisions that provide a special status to followers of the evangelical faith, on the one hand, and a partial ban on religious and ethnic minorities from expressing their confessional affiliation, on the other. The analysis of specifics of the development of Swedish law demonstrates the possible ground of the existing constitutional inequality is the historically discriminatory nature of the legislation in relation to followers of other religious cults. These results can be used as a foundation for future research in the field of realization of religious liberty in multicultural states.

Using Positive Psychology to Uplift Minority Youth: The Importance of Sound Conceptualization and Contextualization

As addressed in the critiques related to theory, measurement, and contextualization identified in Van Zyl et al.’s (J Posit Psychol 1–30, 2023) systematic review, positive psychology has failed to robustly conceptualize and assess the contextually nuanced character and virtue development of non-WEIRD samples, particularly ethnic-racial and religious minority youth, such as Muslim American adolescents. The purpose of this commentary was to provide a conceptually sound and contextualized approach to studying virtue development that uplifts minority youth’s lived experiences and does not undermine their development. We presented potential solutions for criticisms of positive psychology related to theoretical underpinnings, measurement, and decontextualized approach and illustrated the utility of these solutions with concrete examples within the context of Muslim American adolescents as an example of a non-WEIRD population. The paper concluded with recommendations for how these strategies could be similarly applied to uplift other ethnic-racial and religious minority youth populations.

Religious, Practical and Future-Oriented Coping Strategies to End Intimate Partner Violence: An In-Depth Examination of Ultraorthodox Israeli Women’s Narratives

Abstract Purpose Much attention has been devoted to the ways in which women have made sense of, worked through, coped with, and recovered from Intimate Partner Violence (IPV), but the insights of survivors affiliated with religious minorities are scarce. The purpose of this study is to advance understandings and practices concerning the coping experiences of Ultraorthodox women (UJW) survivors of IPV. Using descriptive phenomenological methodology, in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with 15 Ultraorthodox Israeli women who identified themselves as survivors of IPV. Methods The research design and data analysis were inspired by a phenomenological approach to document, analyze, and understand these women’s subjective experiences on this heretofore under-studied topic. Shenton’s four criteria were assessed to promote the current study’s rigor and trustworthiness. Results Thematic analysis revealed three core themes and seven related sub-themes: (1) Devoting time to spiritual activities (sub-themes: daily prayers and attending Jewish classes); (2) Finding inspiration in a role model (sub-themes: a woman who survived IPV, a well-appreciated rabbi); and, (3) Planning the future (sub-themes: commitment to a new project, helping other women to cope with IPV, and commitment to the future and well-being of their children). Conclusions An integrative synthesis of the findings reveals two distinctive forms of coping: spiritual-based and practical-based coping strategies, that demonstrate the survivors’ multifaceted perceptions and coping narrative with IPV. The strengths and limitations of this study are addressed along with implications for practice and theory.

Idealized Past, Exclusivist Present: Right-wing Appropriation of the Decolonial Rhetoric in Malaysia

ABSTRACT Scholars have often assumed that a decolonial agenda would empower emancipatory and anti-racist movements. Nevertheless, there is also increasing recognition by scholars that the language of decolonization has been co-opted to support right-wing ideologies and majoritarian agendas, most prominently in India and Turkey. Similarly, in Malaysia, right-wing actors use decolonial rhetoric to criticize ethnic, religious, gender, and sexual minorities and silence their demands for equal rights. These actors have justified their intolerance by labelling any perceived threats to heteronormative Malay Muslim identity as examples of “Western imperialism” or “Chinese colonialism.” This article illustrates how decolonial vocabulary has been transformed into Sinophobia and homophobia by a right-wing Islamist group in Malaysia. It shows how revisionist nativist historiography, racism, and conspiracy theories can be integrated with moralistic calls for decolonization. Tracing developments over the past decade, the paper demonstrates how persistent dissemination, intellectual laundering, and innovative marketing strategies have helped mainstream a nativist Islamist decolonial agenda in Malaysia.

Jewish Americans’ identity salience and effects on attitudes toward diversity

Although Jewish people in the US are often racialized (i.e., perceived by others) as White, Jewish Americans vary in the extent to which they consider themselves White, and in how strongly they identify with being Jewish. Based on prior findings that identifying with a White ethnic subgroup (e.g., Irish, Italian) can reduce prejudice toward racial and ethnic minorities, we predicted that strongly identified Jewish Americans would exhibit less intergroup bias than weakly identified Jewish Americans. For the present research, we recruited participants whose religious affiliation was Jewish but who self-identified as racially White. In a preregistered correlational study, Jewish identification was associated with lower bias, whereas White identification was associated with greater bias, toward Whites relative to racial/ethnic minorities. The relationship between Jewish identification and intergroup bias was accounted for by high Jewish identifiers’ perceptions that they could personally contribute to diversity in groups and organizations. Across three meta-analyzed experiments, participants whose religious minority (Jewish) identity was made salient exhibited less intergroup bias than did control participants, and in one preregistered experiment, perceived personal contributions to diversity mediated the effect of condition on intergroup bias. Implications for the forms of ethnic identity that predict more versus less intergroup bias in an increasingly multicultural society are discussed.

Religious Minorities at Risk, written by Matthias Basedau, Jonathan Fox, and Ariel Zellman

Religious Minorities at Risk, written by Matthias Basedau, Jonathan Fox, and Ariel Zellman

The framing of Sikh Americans: White Christonormativity, discursive hyper(in)visibilities, and racialization of religion

ABSTRACT We use discourse tracing analysis to examine Sikh media representations across four U.S. newspapers in the last two decades. Guided by the theory of hyper(in)visibility, our study focuses on how representations are othered and erased through various types of discursive hyperinvisibilities, such as myopic, faulty, hazy, and selective visibilities deployed within White Christonormative structures of interpretation. Such othering and erasure then result in the looping of media reports emphasizing stereotypes, misidentification, homogenization, and simplification over 18 years, reinforcing the racialization of religious minorities in a unidimensional way that perpetuates minoritization through discursive tactics of hyper(in)visibility of multiple marginalized groups. These representations have implications that trickle down into real-world intercultural interactions across various spheres of life, including multicultural community settings and workplace interactions, and extend to policy implications such as surveillance architectures. The practical consequences result in intercultural communication outcomes involving hate speech, violence, stereotyping, and microaggressions.

Media and Citizenship in India: Heteronomy and Autonomy in the Indian Journalistic Field

ABSTRACT Since 2014, India has experienced a shift towards a new phase of democracy, often described as an “ethnic democracy.” Political theorists argue that this phase promotes a Hindu conception of the nation, contrasting with the secularism embedded in the Indian Constitution, and is marked by attacks on ethnic and religious minorities, particularly Muslims. Some media scholars suggest that controlling mass media has been a crucial strategy in generating public consent for hegemonic Hindu nationalism and contend that the media’s subservience to political elites extends beyond the current government to previous political elites, such as the Gandhi dynasty. They challenge Bourdieu’s idea of a field governed by its own rules, asserting that in India, political and economic forces often align to impose conformity, indicating weak rational-legal authority. However, this paper argues that such views overstate media subservience and homogeneity. Instead, this paper provides evidence of diverse representations within mainstream media, demonstrating that there is scope for ideological contestation and adherence to professional norms. This study employs content analysis to examine media portrayals of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, using frame analysis as the theoretical framework.

Christian Nationalism and Violence Against Religious Minorities in the United States: A Quantitative Analysis

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between Christian nationalism—a political theology and cultural framework that seeks to amalgamate the Christian faith and a country's political life and privilege Christianity in the public square over other faith traditions—and attacks against religious minorities in the United States. Some Christian nationalists believe that it is justifiable to undertake violent actions in order to realize the goals of Christian nationalism. We theorize that the political empowerment of Christian nationalist ideology in the form of politicians expressing Christian nationalist sentiments corresponds to physical attacks on religious minorities carried out by self‐professing Christians. We test this theory using a cross‐sectional, time‐series analysis of antiminority violence in the United States. The results provide robust support for our theory.

‘달리뜨스탄(Dalitstan)’: 인도 식민지 말기 달리뜨 분리주의의 맥락과 성격

History of Modern India witnessed the struggles and negotiations of Dalits, the former Untouchables to secure their rights in various fields. Their movement, with its various stages from collective awakening to political entitlement, and to new cultural identity making, has primarily been led by B. R. Ambedkar. All these activities of Dalit movement have persisted amidst political upheaval of national movement and state formation in India. Dalits, facing the late-colonial and early republican circumstances, had to construct their own identity which survived the ‘all-embracing’ Hindu identity and to secure the safeguards as a minority while being recognized as the equal citizens of Republic of India. This research pays attention to the separatism of Dalit community suggested by Ambedkar during the 1940s and onwards. In the political process of the 1930s, he established a separate Dalit party and demanded separate electorates to become a political entity separate from Hindus, which was not fulfilled as his original demand. During the state-formation period of 1940s, separatist ideas have been presented by various minority groups. Ambedkar suggested his idea on geographical separatism for Dalits. The demand for separate settlements was proposed along with the political entity separated from Hindus through separate electorates, appropriate representation in public offices and budgets. Unlike the separatism of religious minority groups, Dalit separatism was not aimed at establishing an independent nation-state but was a practical alternative to overcome the poor economic base of Dalits and escape caste Hindu discrimination in villages. Dalitstan had the meaning of a liberated zone for Dalits without caste Hindu discrimination and oppression. Therefore, Dalit separatism should be understood as a political discourse of minority groups in the context of state formation rather than another partition.