Faith-Based Organizations and Social Welfare : Associational Life and Religion in Contemporary Eastern Europe

This volume seeks to understand the role and function of religious-based organizations in strengthening associational life through the provision of social services, thereby legitimizing a new role for faith in the formerly secular public sphere. Specifically, we explore how a church in a postcommunist setting, during periods of economic growth and recession in the wake of transitions to capitalism, and with varied numbers of adherents, might contribute to welfare services in a new political regime with freedom of religion. Put another way, what new pressures would be placed on the secular welfare state if religious organizations (Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, others) simply stopped offering their services? By examining public perceptions of the church, changing dynamics of religiosity, and church-state-civil society relations, the volume places these issues in context. Miguel Glatzer is Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Leadership and Global Understanding Program at La Salle University, USA. Paul Christopher Manuel is the Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer and distinguished scholar in residence in the Department of Government in the School of Public Affairs at American University, USA. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxviii Religion, Faith-Based Organizations, and Welfare Delivery in Contemporary Eastern Europe: An Introduction to the Volume (Miguel Glatzer, Paul Christopher Manuel)....Pages 1-12 Religion, Civil Society, and the State: Dynamics in Eastern Europe (Viktor Poletko)....Pages 13-33 Front Matter ....Pages 35-35 Faith-Based Welfare Provision in Russia (Daniel Schulte, Linda Cook)....Pages 37-57 The Place of the Church in the Romanian Public Sphere: From Charitable Entrepreneur to Political Agent (Bogdan Mihai Radu)....Pages 59-79 In Times of Crisis: Faith-Based Social Engagement and Religious Contestations in Ukraine Since Maidan 2013–2014 (Olena Bogdan, Denys Brylov, Tetiana Kalenychenko)....Pages 81-103 Front Matter ....Pages 105-105 God’s Backyard: Politics and the Catholic Church in Poland (Dawid Tatarczyk)....Pages 107-127 Church and Welfare State in Croatia (Dinka Marinović Jerolimov, Nikolina Hazdovac Bajić)....Pages 129-157 Religion, Civil Society, and Charitable Activity in Slovenia (Igor Bahovec)....Pages 159-175 Faith Based Organizations in Hungary (András Máté-Tóth, Tamás Szilágyi)....Pages 177-196 Front Matter ....Pages 197-197 Religion and Welfare in a Secular Society: The Case of Estonia (Ringo Ringvee)....Pages 199-219 Irreplaceable Church Welfare in the Least Religious Country: The Case of the Czech Republic (Zdeněk R. Nešpor, Dana Hamplová)....Pages 221-236 Back Matter ....Pages 237-239