About

This blog is a space for my irregular personal and academic ramblings and a place where you can find some more info about me. Welcome, visitor!

Mini-me

Marten van der Meulen, Sociologist of Religion. Areas of professional interests: religion & immigration, immigrant churches, social capital, civil society, evangelicalism, pentecostalism.

Learn more about me in my CV

Current research

At the moment (2009) i am busy with a research titled “Participation of Immigrant Churches in Dutch Civil Society”. In the Netherlands there are between 1000 and 1500 immigrant churches and 1.3 million immigrants with a Christian background (8% of the Dutch population). Up till now this group of immigrants has been neglected in scienitific and public debates on immigration and religion. With a small team of researchers we try to close this gap. Read more about the project at www.immigrantchurches.nl.

Older research

In June 2006 I finished a PhD study titled “Vroom in de Vinex. Kerk en civil society in Leidsche Rijn” (“Faith in the Suburb. Church and Civil Society in Leidsche Rijn”). My research is based on (mostly) etnographic fieldwork in Leidsche Rijn, the largest new VINEX building project in the Netherlands. During the year 2002 I followed two church-building projects, an ecumenical project called “Being Church in Leidsche Rijn” and a conservative reformed project, called RijnWaarde. I took my PhD in May 2006. You can read more about my dissertation here (in Dutch).

Selected publications

Meulen, M. van der. “Civic Engagement Measured in Square Meters. Church and Civil Society in a Dutch Suburb”, Social Compass, forthcoming. Link

Knibbe, K., and M. van der Meulen, Review of Global Christianity. Contested Claims, by F. Wijsen and R. Schreiter (eds.) Exchange 38.4 (2009). Link

Meulen, M. van der. “The Continuing Importance of the Local. African Churches and the Search for Worship Space in Amsterdam.” African Diaspora 2.2 (2009): 150-181. Link

—. “Being Illegal is Like Fishing Without Permit: African Churches, Illegal Immigration and the Public Sphere.” A Moving God. Immigrant Churches in the Netherlands. Ed. M.M. Jansen en H.C. Stoffels. Munster: Lit Verlag, 2008. Link

—. “Lessen uit een Vinexwijk.” In de Marge. Tijdschrift voor levensbeschouwing en wetenschap. 15.3 (2006): 11-19. Link

—. Vroom in de Vinex. Kerk en civil society in Leidsche Rijn. Maastricht: Shaker Publishing, 2006. Link

—. “Waarom babyboomers de kerk verlieten.” Niet zo’n kerkganger. Zicht op buitenkerkelijk geloven. Ed. G. Heitink en H. C. Stoffels. Baarn: Ten Have, 2003.

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Contact

E: m DOT vdmeulen AT gmail DOT com
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