About

Mini-me

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

Current research

At the moment (2008) 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).

Fields of expertise

  • Religion and immigration - I read and think alot about subjects like transnational movements, ethnic identity, civic engagement of immigrant congregations, transmission of religious ideas to new generations, diaspora communities, religious participation and conversion (of immigrants) etc.
  • Civil society theory - I extensively studied civil society theories. I am familiar with studies that use Habermas, Foucault, Taylor, Tocqueville etc.
  • Civic engagement and social capital - Social capital theory seemed to me the best way to operationalize civil society theory for empirical research. I study theoretical works on social capital (e.g. James Coleman, Nan Lin, Bourdieu, Foley), read about subject as religion on the formation of social capital (e.g. Putnam), the influence of religious attitudes and practices on civic engagement etc.
  • Religion in Europe - I live in Europe and I am personally as well as professionaly interested in developments within the European Union, especially with regard to religion, such as secularization within different European countries (and compared to the USA and other Western and non-western countries), differences in church - state practices, the influence of the EU on immigration policies and religious ecology etc.
  • (Practical) Theology - I have a theological background, I finished my MA in theology and I am still working at a Theological Faculty. I would be able to review studies at the border between social sciences and theology, such as congregational studies, studies on ecclesiology, secularization and the development of modern theology etc.
  • Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism and other protestantisms - I have a longstanding interest in (orthodox) protestant groups, especially evangelicalism and pentecostalism. I would be able to review (ethnographic) accounts of these groups, or subjects like exorcism, faith healing, transnational developments in pentecostal theology and practice, African pentecostalism etc.

Selected bibliography

  • Meulen, M. van der. “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.
  • —. Vroom in de Vinex. Kerk en civil society in Leidsche Rijn. Maastricht: Shaker Publishing, 2006.
  • —. Burgers van twee werelden. Evangelische jongeren en hun omgang met het moderne ethos. Universiteit Utrecht, Faculteit der Godgeleerdheid, 1999.
  • —. “Waarom babyboomers de kerk verlieten.” Niet zo’n kerkganger. Zicht op buitenkerkelijk geloven. Ed. G. Heitink en H. C. Stoffels. Baarn: Ten Have, 2003.

Religionresearch.org

If you’re an academic with an empirical interest in religion, you can sign up for a blog at www.religionresearch.org, an active online community of researchers in religion and other worldviews. See Religionresearch.org for more details.

Contact

E: m DOT vdmeulen AT gmail DOT com
T: +31 20 5986630
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