Social Security in Religious Networks: Anthropological Perspectives on New Risks and Ambivalences

The world has been facing tremendous political change and the emergence of new risks, resulting in profound reconfigurations in social security arrangements. In many countries, epidemics like HIV/Aids have had a destabilizing effect on the caretaking role of kin. In post-socialist countries political reforms have made unemployment a new source of insecurity. Moreover, a withdrawal of the state from the provision of social security is taking place throughout the world. One response to these developments has been an increase in migration, which poses further challenges to kinship-based social support systems. This innovative volume focuses on the ambiguous role of religious networks for social security and traces the interrelatedness of religious networks, state and family support systems. It is particularly timely as it describes situations of new risks as well as social security arrangements framed by the present challenges of globalization and migration. Given the wide range of case studies from various parts of the world as well as from various religious groups, it offers an important comparative contribution to the understanding of religious networks as providers of social security.