The Sacred in the City

Description

This book reflects the way in which the city interacts with the sacred in all its many guises, with religion and the human search for meaning in life. As the process of urbanization of society is accelerating thus giving an increasing importance to cities and the 'metropolis', it is relevant to investigate the social or cultural cohesion that these urban agglomerations manifest. Religion is keenly observed as witnessing a growth, crucially impacting cultural and political dynamics, as well as determining the emergence of new sacred symbols and their inscription in urban spaces worldwide. The sacred has become an important category of a new interpretation of social and cultural transformation processes. From a unique broader perspective, the volume focuses on the relationship between the city and the sacred. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, combining the expertise of philosophers, historians, architects, social geographers, sociologists and anthropologists, it draws a nuanced picture of the different layers of religion, of the sacred and its diverse forms within the city, with examples from Europe, South America and the Caribbean, and Africa.

Walter Van Herck is Associate Professor of Philosophy of Religion at the University of Antwerp, Belgium. Liliana Gomez is Assistant Professor of Latin American Literary and Cultural Studies at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany.

This richly diverse collection patiently exploressome of the intersections between our understanding of urban space and ourunderstanding of the sacred, and so contributes to the enrichment of both. -- Mark Wynn, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy of Religion at the University of Exeter, UK and author of Faith and Place (2009). This volume combines high-standard interdisciplinary scholarship withprofound philosophical soundings of contemporary forms of religiosity.Theoretical reflections go hand in hand with practical illustrations of theamazing ways in which sacredness permeates civic reality. -- Joris Geldhof, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium