Multiple Identifications: Growing Diversity and Complexity in Religious and Secular Worldviews
Researching Global Religious Landscapes - A Methodology between Universalism and Particularism - Peter Nynäs
Ruth Illman [+ ]
The Donner Institute for Research in Religion and Culture
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Peter Nynäs [+ ]
Åbo Akademi University
Nurit Novis-Deutsch [+ ]
University of Haifa
Description
Many young adults today seem to express multiple religious identifications as part of their life-views. Yet it remains unclear how we should comprehend and conceptualise this phenomenon. Observations about multiple religious identifications offer an impetus to better capture the heterogeneity, complexity and fluidity with regard to how religion is currently reconfigured and structured owing, for example, to religious change and globalisation. It also implies a need to further investigate the diversification of secular and religious identities. The aim of this chapter is to explore forms of multiple identifications as part of a larger discussion on contemporary diversity and pluralism. We assess several recent contributions to understanding multiple identifications from a cross-disciplinary perspective, including how diversity as a social process of change has been contested in more general terms. Analyses of diverse mixed-method data from thirteen countries contribute empirical observations regarding both overarching patterns of identifications and individual life narratives.