Religion, Migration, and Existential Wellbeing

This book uses the very latest research to examine current interactions between religion, migration and existential wellbeing. In particular, it demonstrates the role of religion and religious organizations in the social, medical and existential wellbeing of immigrants within their host societies. By focusing on the role and politics of religion and religious organisations as well as the religious identity and faith of individuals, it highlights the connection between existential wellbeing, integration and social cohesion.

The book brings together researchers from various disciplines taking on the challenge to elaborate on the theme of this book from different perspectives, using different methods and theories with a wide selection of cases from various parts of the world. The value of multidisciplinary research on the role of religion in a globalised society – locally, nationally and internationally – is important for understanding the composition and potential solutions to social and political problems. Religious aspects and organisations are present in legal, political and social forms of governance and form the basis for future research on e.g. secularisation, democracy, minorities, human rights, welfare, healthcare and identity formation. These and other related topics are discussed in this book.

This book is an up-to-date and multifaceted study of how religion engages with the mass movement of peoples. As such, it will be of great interest to any scholar of Religious Studies, Migrant Studies, Sociology of Religion, Religion and Politics, as well as Legal Studies with a human right focus.

Moa Kindström Dahlin is Associate Professor in Public Law at the Faculty of Law, Uppsala University. She has her basis in legal theory and has a specific interest in the interaction between law and other fields of knowledge and the relation between law and ethics, specifically questions regarding autonomy and integrity. Her work has mostly centred around mental health law but also generally on human rights for people with decreased decision-making capacity, e.g. children, elderly people and persons with mental disabilities.

Oscar L. Larsson is Assistant Professor in Military Studies at the Swedish Defence University. Larsson’s main research interest has been the political dimensions of networks and collaboration between public and private actors. His post-doc project was on integration governance in rural contexts in Sweden and the chapter in this book follows from this specific project. Oscar Larson has previously published articles on network governance and sovereign power/domination in Critical Policy Studies, Policy Studies, Regulation & Governance, Constellations, on neo-institutionalism in Critical Review and crisis management in Risk, Hazards and Crisis in Public Policy. He is also one of the editors for this volume.

Anneli Winell, is Assistant Professor in the Sociology of Religion at University College Stockholm (former Stockholm School of Theology), and earlier lecturer at the Department of Theology, Uppsala University. Her main research field concerns religion and media, with ongoing projects on integration and migration, and the relevance of "ministry calling" for identity and meaning-making among priest and pastor candidates. Winell is affiliated to CRS - the Religion & Society Research Centre, and the research program The Impact of Religion: Challenges for Society, Law, and Democracy, Uppsala University.