Abstract
Over the centuries, religion has been associated with civic engagement, but the relationship has varied – according to historical period, religion, region, and also in terms of the scope and degree of social engagement. We begin with a comparison of European countries, revealing major differences. Using Dutch data, we then analyse the significance of church affiliation, religious denomination and church attendance, compared with other characteristics. Finally, we look at the significance of spiritual alternatives to church communities and traditional religion. As with mainstream religion, social networks in the world of alternative spirituality are found to play an important motivational role in social engagement.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Social values such as breaking through existing power structures, increasing democratic decision-making, greater social equality and reducing income differentials, as well as a strong affinity with nature and environmental movements (De Hart 2011).
- 3.
The list in the Dutch questionnaire was as follows: (1) Welfare work for older people, people with disabilities or underprivileged people; (2) A religious or church organisation; (3) Education, art, music or cultural activities; (4) Trade unions; (5) Political party or group; (6) Local activities in relation to poverty, employment, housing, racial inequality; (7) Development problems in the Third World or human rights; (8) Nature protection, environmental protection, animal welfare; (9) Professional association or organisation; (10) Youth work (e.g. Scouts, Guides, youth clubs); (11) Sport or recreation; (12) Women’s groups; (13) Peace movement; (14) Voluntary work in the field of health care; and (15) Other groups. This list appears rather arbitrary, but the concluding ‘other groups’ should make it fairly comprehensive. The question of whether people do unpaid voluntary work for one or more of these causes gives the respondents a fair degree of freedom in terms of period (now? At some point in the last few months or years?), extent (occasionally helped clear up or only been involved in larger activities on a regular basis?) and also in terms of content (only work-like activities without self-interest or also coaching at the sports club of one’s own children?). The possibility cannot be ruled out that some of the differences between countries are more a reflection of differences of interpretation than differences in actual activities, but nothing can be done about that. On the instability of measurements of volunteering, see Dekker and Van den Broek (2006).
- 4.
This means voluntary work with the exception of activities for ‘religious and church organisations’ (item two in the previous note).
- 5.
Based on the percentages in Table 9.1 and Table 3.1 in Chap. 3, we categorise AT, BE, CY, ES, FR, HR, HU, IE, IT, LT, LU, MT, PL, PT, SI and SK as predominantly Roman Catholic; DK, FI, IS, NO, SE and UK as Protestant; CH, DE and NL as Roman Catholic/Protestant; AM, BG, BY, GE, GR, MD, ME, MK, RO, RS, RU and UA as Orthodox; and AL, TR and XK as Islamic. BA, CZ, EE and LV are left out.
- 6.
In the predominantly mixed Catholic/Protestant countries, churchgoing Protestants do voluntary work fractionally more often than churchgoing Catholics (54 and 49 %, respectively); nonchurchgoers Protestants and Catholics do not differ (32 and 31 %, respectively).
- 7.
It is not necessarily enough to look for effects of religion and religious life at this point in time. It may also be that religion played a major role in the past and continues to have an impact in an increasingly secularised society via social organisational structures and public preferences that were established in the past (‘path dependency’).
- 8.
Strikingly, the findings of research on differences between Catholics and Protestants in the Netherlands show little consistency. For a long time, the substantially greater social engagement of Protestants was a stable given (with the historical explanation being the Protestant communities which developed bottom-up from voluntary associations versus the top-down organisation of the Catholic parishes), but here we find relatively little difference, and other recent research has actually found more volunteering among Dutch Catholics (Bekkers and Schuyt 2008; Vermeer and Scheepers 2012). This calls for further research.
- 9.
The higher participation by the better-educated is a consistent finding in research on volunteering in the Netherlands. The gender difference is not, and as regards age, other research also often finds an overrepresentation of older people. These differences are related to the way in which respondents are asked about volunteering: here, this was done primarily on the basis of membership organisations for which people can perform voluntary activities. If we focus more on unpaid work in the care sector, at schools and in the services sector, we find more women and older people.
- 10.
In the Turkish and Moroccan immigrant populations in the Netherlands, the overall participation in voluntary work is considerably lower than in the native population. On the other hand, Muslims who attend the mosque volunteer more than those who do not. The highest percentage of volunteering is found in the small group who do not follow Islam. These are mainly younger people with a high education level who are closely integrated into Dutch society. Religious participation and social integration are to some extent competing stimuli for participation in voluntary work (cf. Chap. 13 on the impact of the minority position).
References
Ashmos, D., & Duchon, D. (2000). Spirituality at work. Journal of Management Inquiry, 9(2), 134–145.
Becker, P. E., & Dhingra, P. H. (2001). Religious involvement and volunteering: Implications for civil society. Sociology of Religion, 63(3), 315–335.
Bekkers, R. (2004). Giving and volunteering in the Netherlands: Sociological and psychological perspectives. Utrecht: Universiteit Utrecht.
Bekkers, R., & Schuyt, T. (2008). And who is your neighbor? Explaining denominational differences in charitable giving and volunteering in the Netherlands. Review of Religious Research, 50(1), 74–96.
Beyerlein, K., & Hipp, J. R. (2006). From pews to participation. Social Problems, 53(1), 97–117.
Bowle, J. (1968). Western political thought. London: Jonathan Cape.
Bruce, S. (2002). God is dead: Secularization in the West. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Burack, E. (1999). Spirituality in the workplace. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12(4), 280–291.
Carr, W. (2001). Spirituality and religion. In H. Orchard (Ed.), Spirituality in health care contexts (pp. 21–32). London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Carrette, J. R., & King, R. (2004). Selling spirituality: The silent takeover of religion. Londen: Routledge.
Carson, V. B. (1989). Spiritual dimensions of nursing practice. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co.
Castillo Guerra, J., Wijsen, F., & Steggerda, M. (2006). Een gebedshuis voor alle volken. Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum.
Chandler, S. (2008). The social ethic of religiously unaffiliated spirituality. Religion Compass, 2(2), 240–256.
Cnaan, R. A., Wineburg, R. J., & Boddie, S. C. (1999). The newer deal: Social work and religion in partnership. New York: Columbia University Press.
De Hart, J. (1999). Vrijwilligerswerk in Nederland in historisch perspectief. In P. Dekker (Ed.), Vrijwilligerswerk vergeleken (pp. 33–68). Den Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau.
De Hart, J. (2011). Zwevende gelovigen: Oude religie en nieuwe spiritualiteit. Amsterdam: Bert Bakker.
De Hart, J., & Dekker, P. (2005). Churches as voluntary associations. In S. Roßteutscher (Ed.), Democracy and the role of associations (pp. 168–196). London/New York: Routledge.
Dekker, P., & De Hart, J. (2006). Kerkgangers, investeerders in de civil society. In SCP (Ed.), Investeren in vermogen (pp. 317–338). Den Haag: Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau.
Dekker, G., & Peters, J. (1989). Gereformeerden in meervoud. Kampen: J.H. Kok.
Dekker, P., & Van den Broek, A. (2006). Is volunteering going down? In P. Ester, M. Braun, & P. Mohler (Eds.), Globalization, value change, and generations (pp. 179–205). Leiden/Boston: Brill.
Euser, H., Goossen, K., De Vries, M., & Wartena, S. (2006). Migranten in Mokum: De betekenis van migrantenkerken voor de stad Amsterdam. Amsterdam: Vrije Universiteit.
Finke, R., & Stark, R. (1992). The churching of America, 1776–1990: Winners and losers in our religious economy. New Brusnwick: Rutgers University Press.
Gerard, D. (1985). Values and voluntary work. In M. Abrams, D. Gerard, & N. Timms (Eds.), Values and social change in Britain (pp. 201–226). London: Macmillan.
Giacalone, R. A., & Jurkiewicz, C. L. (2003). Handbook of workplace spirituality and organizational performance. New York: M.E. Sharpe.
Greeley, A. M. (1997). The other America: Religion and social capital. The American Prospect, 32, 68–73.
Heelas, P. (1996). The New Age movement: The celebration of the self and the sacralization of modernity. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Heelas, P. (2008). Spiritualities of life. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Heelas, P., & Woodhead, L. (2005). The spiritual revolution: Why religion is giving way to spirituality. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
Hodgkinson, V. A., Weitzman, M. S., & Kirsch, A. D. (1990). From commitment to action. In R. Wuthnow & V. A. Hodgkinson (Eds.), Faith and philanthropy in America (pp. 93–114). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Hoge, D. R., Zech, C., McNamara, P., & Donahue, M. J. (1998). The value of volunteers as resources for congregations. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 37(3), 470–480.
Höllinger, F. (2004). Does the counter-cultural character of new age persist? Journal of Contemporary Religion, 19(3), 289–309.
Iannaccone, L. (1992). Introduction to the economics of religion. Journal of Economic Literature, 36(3), 1465–1495.
Jackson, E. F., Bachmeier, M. D., Wood, J. R., & Craft, E. A. (1995). Volunteering and charitable giving. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 24(1), 59–78.
Jansen, M., & Stoffels, H. M. (Eds.). (2008). A moving God: Immigrant churches in the Netherlands. Wenen: Lit Verlag GmbH & Co.
Jongeneel, J. A. B., Budiman, R., & Visser, J. J. (Eds.). (1996). Gemeenschapsvorming van Aziatische, Afrikaanse en Midden- en Zuidamerikaanse christenen in Nederland. Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum.
Krahnke, K., & Hoffman, L. (2002). The rise of religion and spirituality in the workplace. Journal of Behavioral an Applied Management, 3(3), 277–287.
Lam, P. Y. (2002). As the flocks gather: How religion affects voluntary association participation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 41(3), 405–422.
Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Reitsma, J. (2007). Religiosity and solidarity: Dimensions and relationships disentangled and tested. Nijmegen: Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen.
Renesch, J. E. (2000). Getting to the better future. San Francisco: New Business Books.
Ruiter, S. (2008). Association in context and association as context. Wageningen: Ponsen & Looijen.
Ruiter, S., & De Graaf, N. D. (2010). National religious context and volunteering. American Sociological Review, 75(1), 179–184.
Sabine, G. H., & Thorson, T. L. (1973). A history of political theory. Hinsdale/Tokyo: Dryden Press/Holt Saunders.
Schnabel, P. (1982). Tussen stigma en charisma: nieuwe religieuze bewegingen en geestelijke volksgezondheid. Deventer: Van Loghum Slaterus.
Schwadel, P. (2005). Individual, congregational, and denominational effects on church members’ civic participation. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 44(2), 159–171.
Sheldrake, P. (1999). Spirituality as an academic discipline. In A. Thatcher (Ed.), Spirituality and the curriculum (pp. 55–78). London: Cassell.
Stoffels, H. C. (1990). Wandelen in het licht. Kampen: Kok.
Uslaner, E. (1997). Faith, hope and charity. College Park: University of Maryland, Department of Government and Politics.
Van der Sar, J., Lombo-Visser, R., & Boender, W. (2008). Moskeeën gewaardeerd. Den Haag: Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties.
Vellenga, S. J. (1991). Een ondernemende beweging. De groei van de evangelische beweging in Nederland. Amsterdam: VU-uitgeverij.
Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., & Brady, H. E. (1995). Voice and equality: Civic voluntarism in American politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Vermeer, P., & Scheepers, P. (2012). Religious socialization and non-religious volunteering: A Dutch panel study. Voluntas, 23, 940–958.
Williams, O. F. (2003). Business, religion, and spirituality: A new synthesis. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press.
Wilson, J., & Janoski, T. (1995). The contribution of religion to volunteer work. Sociology of Religion, 56, 137–152.
Wuthnow, R. (1991). Acts of compassion. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Yeung, A. B. (2004). An intricate triangle. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 33(3), 401–422.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
de Hart, J., Dekker, P. (2013). Religion, Spirituality and Civic Participation. In: de Hart, J., Dekker, P., Halman, L. (eds) Religion and Civil Society in Europe. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6815-4_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6815-4_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6814-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6815-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)