Most existing surveys of sociology of religion still define religiosity in terms of church attendance or observance of rituals, which do not always fully take into account the social understanding of the religious experience of individuals or groups. In this article Jocelyne Cesari proposes the systematic utilization of the belief-behave-belong triad. She uses the case of Muslims in Europe and the United States as an example. What makes Islamic practices distinctive and challenging for believers are their social and cultural underpinnings and their reception in mainstream society. Consequently, conflicts between personal and social identity arise. Cesari's work on political Islam has demonstrated that religious belonging is more relevant than belief for understanding the politicization of Islam by showing how Islamic and national belonging have been linked in postcolonial nation-state building. She concludes that it is key to pay attention to the simultaneous changes of ideas, institutions, and contexts over time. The article was published on the Immanent Frame.
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