Around 1800 roughly three per cent of the human population lived in urban areas; by 2030 this number is expected to have gone up to some seventy per cent. This poses problems for traditional religions that are all rooted in rural, small-scale societies. The authors in this volume question what the possible appeal of these old religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam could be in the new urban environment and, conversely, what impact global urbanization will have on learning and on the performance and nature of ritual. Anthropologists, historians and political scientists have come together in this volume to analyse attempts made by churches and informal groups to adapt to these changes and, at the same time, to explore new ways to study religions in a largely urbanized environment.

Around 1800 roughly three per cent of the human population lived in urban areas; by 2030 this number is expected to have gone up to some seventy per cent. This poses problems for traditional religions that are all rooted in rural, small-scale societies. The authors in this volume question what the possible appeal of these old religions, such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam could be in the new urban environment and, conversely, what impact global urbanization will have on learning and on the performance and nature of ritual. Anthropologists, historians and political scientists have come together in this volume to analyse attempts made by churches and informal groups to adapt to these changes and, at the same time, to explore new ways to study religions in a largely urbanized environment.

List of Figures

Introduction: When God Comes to Town
Rik Pinxten and Lisa Dikomitis

PART I: NATION VERSUS STATE

Chapter 1. Religion and Nationality: The Tangled Greek Case
Renée Hirschon

Chapter 2. A Church Lost in the Maze of a City without References
Bruno Drweski

PART II: URBAN TRANSFORMATIONS

Chapter 3.The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Urbanism
Simon Coleman

Chapter 4. The Ecology and Economy of Urban Religious Space: A Socio-Historical Account of Quakers in Town
Peter Collins

PART III: URBAN MIGRATION

Chapter 5. Rural Immigrants and Official Religion in an Urban Religious Festival in Greece
Giorgos Vozikas

Chapter 6. From the City to the Village and Back: Greek Cypriot Refugees Engaging in ‘Pilgrimages’ across the Border
Lisa Dikomitis

PART IV: IMPACT OF MODERNITY

Chapter 7. Reading the City Religious: Urban Transformations and Social Reconstruction in Recife, Brazil
Marjo de Theije

Chapter 8. Modernity Contra Tradition? Taijiquan’s Struggle for Survival: A Chinese Case Study
Dan Vercammen

Notes on Contributors
Index