The Limits of Contemporary Sociology: Secularisation, Sacralisation and the Resurgence of Religion in the Public Realm

1. The Limits of Contemporary Sociology: Secularisation, Sacralisation and the Resurgence of Religion in the Public Realm John Eade CRONEM/Surrey and Roehampton Universities

2. No Universal Model? • European or American exceptionalism • No universal model based on a regional experience • Different secularising processes reflecting historical particularities and global/local interactions

3. England and Secularism: Between the European and American Poles? • Europe: religion controlled by the state so that newcomers are obliged to fit within this structure (Muslim representation in France and Belgium, the Dutch and German ‘pillar’ system

4. England and Secularism: Between the European and American Poles? • In the USA the state’s permissive tradition encourages religious pluralism and does not control or centralise religious representation • In England the established Church holds a privileged position but other Christian groups and non-Christian newcomers enjoy a relatively high degree of freedom from state control

5. English Exceptionalism: Controlling Non-Christian Groupsin Public Space • Before The Satanic Verses saga the state followed the English mixed economy of preserving the privileged position of the Church of England and allowing non-Christian groups considerable freedom • This was accompanied by the resurgence of religious consciousness among minority groups and their increasing visibility

6. The 1990s onwards: Moving towards the European Model? • Global and local events such as the first Gulf war, ‘9/11’, ‘7/7’ and engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan • Effect has been to increase state surveillance, encouragement of assimilation, hierarchical organisation, engagement with a secular majority and closing the gap with Europe

7. Resistance to StateSecularising Pressure: Sacralising Public Space • The momentum of sacralising local space and asserting a public presence by non-Christian groups has not slowed • Nor have the attempts by their religious leaders to develop a moral order free from western secular ‘corruption’ diminished

8. From Private to Public Space: The Sacralisation of Mainstream Urban Space • 1960s and 1970s use of private accommodation by non-Christians • 1980s onwards – taking over mainstream public secular and religious buildings • Purifying religion from syncretic cultural traditions • Sustaining or restoring moral order in a corrupt secular West

9. Four Case Studies from Two Cronem Projects: Three Different Mosques in London’s East End • Transnational migration and minority ethnic groups in London’s dark, exotic east • Doing dawah among Muslim settlers: the Markazi mosque on Christian Street • Going public: making a grand statement for the Olympics

10. Brick Lane Mosque, E. London

11. East London Mosque

12. East London Mosque

13. West Ham Mosque

14. West Ham Mosque

15. Tabligh Jamaat and London Olympics

16. Tamil Hindus in London ‘East End’ • Migrant workers, refugees and asylum seekers from Sri Lanka • Tamil settlers from India • Moving from a pub to a temple • Creating moral order: the circulation of priestly experts

17. East Ham Temple, E. London

18. Neasden Temple, W. London

19. Kimbanguist Christiansin N. London • French-speaking refugees and asylum seekers from the DRC • Sacralising space: external anonymity and internal elaboration • Sacred centres and peripheries: London, Brussels, Paris and the Congolese temple

20. The Polish Catholic Mission • Old Poles and new Poles • Preserving the faith: pilgrimage to a Marian shrine in the Kent countryside • Sustaining moral order in a decadent secular west: transnational migrants and a historic mission