Introduction: The Sites, Materialities and Practices of Interreligious Encounters in Europe

This introduction asks about the multiple forms, power effects, fragility and contested nature of interreligious encounters in Europe from various social science perspectives. With ‘interreligious dialogue’ initiatives being promoted in many societies, research on the topic has expanded. Attention has been devoted to dialogue as a tool to promote social cohesion and integration in societies marked by migration-driven religious diversity. However, research on the intertwined effects of the sites, materialities and practices of ‘the interreligious’ is scarce, especially with regard to the production and contentious transformation of identities, mechanisms of belonging and power relations in local contexts. To address this gap, the contributions to Interreligious Encounters in Europe: Sites, Materialities and Practices focus on the situated articulations of interreligious encounters and dialogues by examining how different encounters are framed, expressed and practised. Drawing on 9 empirical case studies from various countries, the contributions (a) shed light on the subjectivities, relations and modes of behaviour produced, negotiated and contested in and through locally embedded interreligious encounters and dialogue-oriented practices; (b) observe the power dynamics that shape those practices and encounters; and (c) discuss their implications for the place(s) of religion in the public sphere. The volume provides insights into the commonalities and specificities of interreligious encounters, politics and practices across different settings.