In Religion, Migration and Identity scholars from various disciplines explore issues related to identity and religion, that people - individually and communally -, encounter when affected by migration dynamics; the volume foregrounds methodology as its main concern.

"When Joseph Nathaniel Beckles registered for the draft in the 1942, he rejected the racial categories presented to him and persuaded the registrar to cross out the check mark she had placed next to Negro and substitute "Ethiopian Hebrew." "God did not make us Negroes," declared religious leaders in black communities of the early twentieth-century urban North. They insisted that so-called Negroes are, in reality, Ethiopian Hebrews, Asiatic Muslims, or raceless children of God. Rejecting conventional American racial classification, many black southern migrants and immigrants from the Caribbean embraced these alternative visions of black history, racial identity, and collective future, thereby reshaping the black religious and racial landscape. Focusing on the Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam, Father Divine's Peace Mission Movement, and a number of congregations of Ethiopian Hebrews, Judith Weisenfeld argues that the appeal of these groups lay not only in the new religious opportunities membership provided, but also in the novel ways they formulated a religio-racial identity. Arguing that members of these groups understood their religious and racial identities as divinely-ordained and inseparable, the book examines how this sense of self shaped their conceptions of their bodies, families, religious and social communities, space and place, and political sensibilities. Weisenfeld draws on extensive archival research and incorporates a rich array of sources to highlight the experiences of average members."--Publisher's description.

Stories of Identity reflects on the way that migration affects personal identity and offers educators and students resources to examine this migration through methods of storytelling. It shares the experiences of immigrants in America and Europe from the individual to the collective through memoirs, journalistic accounts, and interviews. The book uses stories about family and upbringing, faith and doubt, religion, school and community, history and scholarship, interviews with young people and meditations from novelists and authors, including author Jumpa Lahiri (The Namesake), Ed Husain (The Islamist), Eboo Patel (Founder of the Interfaith Youth Core), and many more. These experiences reflect a recent and global phenomenon where identity and citizenship are challenged by the greater blurring of national boundaries. Exploring the stories of young migrants and their changing communities, Stories asks readers to reflect on the fluidity of identity.

Rescripting Religion in the City explores the role of faith and religious practices as strategies for understanding and negotiating the migratory experience. Leading international scholars draw on case studies of urban settings in the global north and south. Presenting a nuanced understanding of the religious identities of migrants within the 'modern metropolis' this book makes a significant contribution to fields as diverse as twentieth-century immigration history, the sociology of religion and migration studies, as well as historical and urban geography and practical theology.

Religious practices and their transformation are crucial elements of migrants' identities and are increasingly politicized by national governments in the light of perceived threats to national identity. As new immigrant flows shape religious pluralism in Europe, longstanding relations between the State and Church are challenged, together with majority-faith traditions and societies’ ways of representing and perceiving themselves. With attention to variations according to national setting, this volume explores the process of reformulating religious identities and practices amongst South Asian 'communities' in European contexts, Presenting a wide range of ethnographies, including studies of Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Islam amongst migrant communities in contexts as diverse as Norway, Italy, the UK, France and Portugal, Migration and Religion in Europe sheds light on the meaning of religious practices to diasporic communities. It examines the manner in which such practices can be used by migrants and local societies to produce distance or proximity, as well as their political significance in various 'host' nations. Offering insights into the affirmation of national identities and cultures and the implications of this for governance and political discourse within Europe, this book will appeal to scholars with interests in anthropology, religion and society, migration, transnationalism and gender.

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.

Rescripting Religion in the City explores the role of faith and religious practices as strategies for understanding and negotiating the migratory experience. Leading international scholars draw on case studies of urban settings in the global north and south. Presenting a nuanced understanding of the religious identities of migrants within the 'modern metropolis' this book makes a significant contribution to fields as diverse as twentieth-century immigration history, the sociology of religion and migration studies, as well as historical and urban geography and practical theology.