Patrick Pasture

Jan Art

Thomas Buerman

Case studies upon the use of concepts like feminization and masculinization in relation to christianity. Since the 1970s the feminization thesis has become a powerful trope in the rewriting of the social history of Christendom. However, this 'thesis' has triggered some vehement debates, given that men have continued to dominate the churches, and the churches themselves have reacted to the association of religion and femininity, often formulated by their critics, by explicitly focusing their appeal to men. In this book the authors critically reflect upon the use of concepts like feminization and masculinization in relation to Christianity.

Gender and Christianity in Modern Europe

Beyond the Feminization Thesis

Hans De Witte

Guy van Gyes

This title was first published in 2001. This detailed study of European trade unions also addresses academic concerns about the continuing relevance of the class concept as an analytical tool. As a social movement, the trade union has always used the class principal to unite and defend workers, and the diverse contributions to this volume enable the more accurate positioning of class discourse within both the debate about trade unions and wider sociological inquiry.

The Differentiated Work Force, Class Solidarity and Trade Unions

Can Class Still Unite?

Elena Arigita

Riho Altnurme

Drawing on research funded by the European Commission, this book explores how religious diversity has been, and continues to be, represented in cultural contexts in Western Europe, particularly to teenagers: in textbooks, museums and exhibitions, popular youth culture including TV and online, as well as in political speech. Topics include the findings from focus group interviews with teenagers in schools across Europe, the representation of minority religions in museums, migration and youth subculture.

Mediating the Past to the Young

Religious Diversity in Europe

Greta Devos

Karel Davids

C. A. Davids

Furthering our understanding of concrete and topical developments in the growth of social partnership economies, this text discusses the impact of potential triggers, such as wars and economic crises, on the development of consultative arrangements.

The Dynamics of Social Partnership in 20th Century West-European Democracies

Changing Liaisons

Jan de Maeyer

Lex Heerma van Voss

In the late nineteenth century in a number of continental European countries Christian associations of workers arose: Christian trade unions, workers' cooperatives, political leagues, workers' youth movements and cultural associations, sometimes separately for men and women. In some countries they formed a unified Christian labour movement, which sometimes also belonged to a broader Christian subculture or pillar, encompassing all social classes. In traditional labour history Christian workers' organizations were solely represented as dividing the working class and weakening the class struggle. However, from the 1980s onwards a considerable amount of studies have been devoted to Christian workers' organizations that adopted a more nuanced approach. This book takes stock of this new historiography. To broaden the analysis, each contribution compares the development in at least two countries, thus generating new comparative insights. This volume assesses the development of Christian workers' organizations in Europe from a broad historical and comparative perspective. The contributions focus on the collective identity of the Christian workers' organization, their denominational and working-class allegiances and how these are expressed in ideology, organization and practice. Among the themes discussed are relations with churches and Christian Democracy, secularization, the development of the Welfare State, industrial relations and the contribution to working-class culture. This volume is the result of a joint intellectual enterprise of the International Institute of Social History (IISG) in Amsterdam (Netherlands) and a group of scholars linked to the KADOC - Documentation and Research Centre for Religion, Culture and Society of the KU Leuven (Catholic University Leuven-Belgium).

Comparative Histories of Christian Labour in Europe 1840-2000

Between Cross and Class

Tine Van Osselaer

Christian ideas on family, religion, and the home in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries The cult of domesticity has often been linked to the privatization of religion and the idealisation of the motherly ideal of the ‘angel in the house’. This book revisits the Christian home of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and sheds new light on the stereotypical distinction between the private and public spheres and their inhabitants. Emphasizing the importance of patriarchal domesticity during the period and the frequent blurring of boundaries between the Christian home and modern society, the case studies included in this volume call for a more nuanced understanding of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Christian ideas on family, religion, and the home.

Religion, Family and Domesticity in the 19th and 20th Centuries

Christian Homes

Leo Kenis

Jaak Billiet

KADOC Studies on Religion, Culture and Society, Volume 6Research continues to show that the Christian religion is gradually disappearing from the public, cultural, and social spheres in Western Europe. Even on the individual level, institutionalized religion is becoming increasingly marginalized. New forms of religious life and community, however, may point toward a resurgence of Christian churches in postmodern Europe. This book focuses on the complex transformations Christian churches in Western Europe have undergone since World War II. In English and French.

La Transformation Des Églises Chrétiennes en Europe Occidentale

Hans de Witte

Johan Verberckmoes

The 'end of ideology' and 'farewell to the trade unions' are two themes popular in public opinion as well as among social scientists. In this book both topics are critically reviewed. Does ideology still mean anything to the European trade unions? Or have they lost all perspectives?The first volume of the book contains country analyses of the long-term development of the trade union movement in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Belgium and The Netherlands, with special reference to the ideological challenges they have faced.The second volume is divided in three parts. Firstly several internationally renowned specialists reflect on the historic meaning of ideology to the trade unions. The second part emphasises the cultural identities of trade unions, which includes a critical reassessment of their attitudes towards women, immigrants, nationalism and international trade union co-operation. In the third part of the book the significance of ideology for trade union participation and commitment is studied.

Patrick Pasture

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