Minority Religions and Society: Multiplicity of Social Actions

Abstract

This publication is an overview of the problems and topics raised and analysed within the framework of the International Conference “The Contribution of Minority Religions to Society”, organised jointly by Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), International Society for the Study of New Religions (ISSNR) and the Université Bordeaux Montaigne on 12–15 June 2024. The author discusses a wide range of approaches and points of view on the social role played by small religions in modern society around the world. The author analyses trends that have become the basis for changes in the religious configuration in many countries of the world, such as neo-traditionalism, commodification, the transformation of sacred spaces into objects of cultural heritage, the fragmentation of religious experience, etc. This article examines how the religious picture of several countries (Taiwan, South Africa, South Korea, Lithuania) and individual religious movements (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, etc.) was presented in the conference reports. The main focus of the conference’s vision is explored from a variety of perspectives — the analysis of the social actions that representatives of small religions (or, in other cases, minority religions) undertake, and especially how they contribute to positive social change.