Religion and the global middle class: towards a new research agenda |
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Authors: | Ayman K Agbaria |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Leadership and Policy in Education, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israelaagbaria@edu.haifa.ac.il |
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Abstract: | ABSTRACTThis essay discusses the role of religion as a central facet when researching the emerging social group – the global middle class (GMC). It is argued here that religion is a particularly relevant feature for the constitution of this social group because of the GMC’s transnational and cosmopolitan character. In this essay, I will draw on several examples focused on Islamic education provision in Western, pre-dominantly Christian societies to illustrate why and how religion should become critical to our study of the GMC. The essay’s central argument is that there remains a gap in research related to the role of religion in the making and practising of the GMC as a social group. I conclude by proposing a future research agenda that addresses the intersections of religion, education, and the GMC on an individual, national, and global level. |
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Keywords: | Global middle class religion transnationalism cosmopolitanism religious education Islamic education identity formation transnational religious networks |
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