168 research outputs found
Douglas Ezzy, Anna Halafoff, Greg Barton and Rebecca Banham (eds): Religious Diversity in Australia: Living Well with Difference
No full textBook review of Douglas Ezzy, Anna Halafoff, Greg Barton and Rebecca Banham (eds): Religious Diversity in Australia: Living Well with Difference. London: Bloomsbury, 2024, 251 pp
Buddhism in Australia: an emerging field of study
No full textIn 2006, Paul D. Numrich (2008) posed the question of whether contemporary scholarship on North American Buddhism constituted a distinct "field of study" and identified several factors that defined both academic disciplines and fields. This paper applies Numrich\u27s criteria to the study of Buddhism in Australia, in its multiple and diverse forms, suggesting that it is an emerging field of study. While there has been an increase in historical, anthropological, and sociological scholarship in recent years, a comprehensive analysis of Buddhism in Australia, and particularly its impact on Australian life and culture, is yet to be conducted. This paper argues that such a study is both timely and necessary, given that Buddhism is the second largest religion in Australia, and we appear to be entering an "Asian century."
Authors: Anna Halafoff, Deakin University; Ruth Fitzpatrick, University of Western Sydney; Kim Lam, Monash University
Antisemitism and Jewish Children and Youth in Australia’s Capital Territory Schools
No full textIssues pertaining to religion and Australian schools have generated a significant amount of controversy and scholarly attention in recent years, and much of the attention in the religion and schools debate has focused on Muslim and non-religious children’s experiences (Erebus International, 2006; Halafoff, 2013). This article, by contrast, explores the manifestations of antisemitism as experienced by Jewish children and youth in Canberra schools. It considers the characteristics of antisemitism; when and why it occurs; its impact on the Jewish children and young people; and also the responses to it by them, the schools and the Jewish community. Based on focus groups with the Jewish students and their parents, the study reveals that antisemitism is common in Canberra schools, as almost all Jewish children and youth in this study have experienced it. The findings from this study suggest that there is a need for more anti-racism education. Specifically there is an urgent need for educational intervention about antisemitism, alongside education about religions and beliefs in general, to counter antisemitism more effectively and religious discrimination more broadly in Australian schools
Antisemitism and Jewish children and youth in Australia’s Capital Territory schools
No full textIssues pertaining to religion and Australian schools have generated a significant amount of controversy and scholarly attention in recent years, and much of the attention in the religion and schools debate has focused on Muslim and non-religious children’s experiences (Erebus International, 2006; Halafoff, 2013). This article, by contrast, explores the manifestations of antisemitism as experienced by Jewish children and youth in Canberra schools. It considers the characteristics of antisemitism; when and why it occurs; its impact on the Jewish children and young people; and also the responses to it by them, the schools and the Jewish community. Based on focus groups with the Jewish students and their parents, the study reveals that antisemitism is common in Canberra schools, as almost all Jewish children and youth in this study have experienced it. The findings from this study suggest that there is a need for more anti-racism education. Specifically there is an urgent need for educational intervention about antisemitism, alongside education about religions and beliefs in general, to counter antisemitism more effectively and religious discrimination more broadly in Australian schools
Limites de la liberté religieuse
No full textSpringer lance un appel à proposition pour une collection Boundaries of Religious Freedom: Regulating Religion in Diverse Societies. Contact: Prof. Lori G. Beaman, University of Ottawa, Canada | Department of Classics and Religious Studies, [email protected]; Prof. Lene Kühle, Aarhus University, Denmark | Department of Culture and Society – Study of Religion, [email protected]; Dr. Anna Halafoff, Deakin University, Australia | Centre for Citizenship and Globalisation, [email protected]..
Childhoods past and present:a reflexive approach to enhancing children’s spiritual wellbeing
No full textBook Reviews
No full textAndrew Singleton, Mary Lou Rasmussen, Anna Halafoff and Gary Bouma, Freedoms, Faiths and Futures: Teenage Australians on Religion, Sexuality and Diversity - Dixon
Neil Francis, Religiosity in Australia - Hughes
Jason Goroncy and Rod Pattenden, Imagination in an Age of Crisis: Soundings from the Arts and Theology - Lambert
Robert Dixon and Mary Eastham, Encountering God: Practical theology and the mission to heal, Explorations in Practical Theology series - Maher
Hughes, Philip. Australia’s Religious and Non-Religious Profiles: Analysis of the 2021 Census Data - Rei
The multifaith movement : global risks and cosmopolitan solutions
No full textThis book documents the ultramodern rise of the multifaith movement, as mulitfaith initiatives have been increasingly deployed as cosmopolitan solutions to counter global risks such as terrorism and climate change at the turn of the 21st century. These projects aim to enhance common security, particularly in Western societies following the events of September 11, 2001 and the July 2005 London bombings, where multifaith engagement has been promoted as a strategy to counter violent extremism. The author draws on interviews with 56 leading figures in the field of multifaith relations, including Paul Knitter, Eboo Patel, Marcus Braybrooke, Katherine Marshall, John Voll and Krista Tippett.Identifying the principle aims of the multifaith movement, the analysis explores the benefits—and challenges—of multifaith engagement, as well as the effectiveness of multifaith initiatives in countering the process of radicalization. Building on notions of cosmopolitanism, the work proposes a new theoretical framework termed ‘Netpeace’, which recognizes the interconnectedness of global problems and their solutions. In doing so, it acknowledges the capacity of multi-actor peacebuilding networks, including religious and state actors, to address the pressing dilemmas of our times. The primary intention of the book is to assist in the formation of new models of activism and governance, founded on a ‘politics of understanding’ modeled by the multifaith movement.<br
The Gülen Hizmet Movement’s educational philanthropy: schools as enterprises of a civic society
No full textThe Gülen Hizmet Movement (GHM) is a largely progressive, pluralistic and transcontinental civic movement inspired by Islam, which makes it unique in the Muslim world. Similar movements exist but they are confined to single nations (eg. Indonesia’s Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama) and there are other transnational movements but they are not progressive in outlook (eg. Tablighi Jemaat). The financial dynamics of the movement, particularly the economic resources raised and deployed by Gülen-inspired schools (GISs) and how they function as business enterprises continues to be the subject of debate, criticism, and curiosity across the public sphere in its native Turkey, and research discourses on a global scale. The relatively few studies on the financial aspects of the GHM that have been published tend to arrive at widely varying conclusions. Not surprisingly, in general, scholars who are sympathetic to the movement and write from an insider’s viewpoint arrive at different conclusions to those who are outside of and are generally more critical of the movement. While the former argue that funding for the schools comes largely from within the greater Turkish community, the latter claim that the sources of funding include foreign agencies with their own agendas. Although these studies arrive at sharply contrasting positions, what they share in common is a lack of empirical evidence. This thesis interrogates the financial transparency of GISs, the economics of altruism, and motivations behind the philanthropic acts of financial supporters based on examination of financial bookkeeping and semi-structured interviews with 72 participants — mainly sponsors, financial managers and administrators of a GIS in Istanbul, Turkey, and in Melbourne, Australia — between 2012 and 2015. The empirical findings of this thesis elucidate the manner in which the people of Anatolia contribute their financial resources to the Gülen-inspired educational institutions until the institutions are financially self-sufficient. In addition, the findings of this research provide evidence that the adherents of Gülen live in order to give; hence their giving is not limited to zekat or ‘tithing’, the charity that is compulsory in Islamic faith. I argue that there is a significant difference between ‘giving zekat’ and ‘living to give’. In the difference between giving and living to give, the hizmet concept emerges and finds its foundation and meaning: endless service. One of the most important questions about the movement are those investigating how GISs function as businesses and about which sector the movement’s schools fit. The findings of my research challenge the studies that examine the role of money within the GHM and that categorise GISs as social businesses or profit oriented capitalist enterprises. I address queries through the lens of economic theories and conclude that while GISs share some similarities with ‘social businesses’ such as those promoted by Muhammad Yunus, they overwhelmingly do not meet the criteria of social businesses or for-profit businesses. Rather they are civil society enterprises of that operate with their own models originating from the hizmet concepts of philanthropy, voluntarism, and generosity, which in turn arise out of traditional Anatolian Islamic tradition
- …
