Religion in multi-ethnic contexts: a multidisciplinary case study of global seafaring

在日益世俗化的社会中，宗教的重要性可能会被认为正在减弱。然而，随着人口流动性的增加和围绕宗教差异产生冲突的趋势，社会科学必须回归宗教，将其作为一个重要的核心原则。该项目考虑了宗教差异以及与全球航海有关的精神需求。该研究将为我们理解多信仰群体如何和平共处以及哪些因素可能破坏/威胁宗教多元化人群的社会和谐做出重要贡献。该项目将侧重于在船上和港口共同生活和工作的来自不同国家和多种信仰的海员。在他们生活和工作的具有挑战性的社会环境中（局限于工作货船上相对较小的空间，基本上与更广泛的社会隔离），它将探讨他们如何理解自己的灵性和同事的灵性，以及他们如何管理/体验宗教需求/表达。传统上，英国和美国的港口为多种信仰的国际海员提供牧师/福利服务，以满足各种精神/社会需求。这些过去和现在的服务也将是研究的重点。将收集档案数据，绘制英国/美国港口牧师的历史发展。此外，当代牧师将作为参与者，以了解他们如何塑造和实践各自的宗教信仰，以及他们的使命，以及他们的组织如何随着时间的推移而改变他们的目标和做法，以资助这样的事工。这种研究关注的结合将使我们有机会分析海员自己的宗教观点和对其他信仰的态度;海员的精神需求;在港口范围内对海员精神需求的现有支持;获得和体验这种基于港口的福利/宗教服务（从海员的角度）在港口提供牧师职位的组织的目标及其未来的相关计划。该项目有三个目标：1）我们的目标是让在港口工作的组织向海员提供更好的福利/精神服务; 2）我们的目标是更好地了解传统/非传统宗教/精神是如何在港口和跨国居住工作场所（即船舶）表达、体验和谈判的。3)我们将探讨宗教的演变，在有限的，但重要的情况下以外的会众和正式指定的宗教场所。在这方面，我们的目标是增加当代“宗教”及其多样性的学术理解，并研究宗教/精神超出预期的位置（例如教堂/宗教社区）。1)对与美国/英国港口福利和宗教服务发展有关的档案材料的历史审查2）对主要利益相关者组织进行了一系列半结构化访谈，3）港口民族志，侧重于对牧师"行动“的观察和对主要参与者/提供者的采访4）船上民族志，侧重于海员及其精神/宗教习俗/需求/表达。这项两国案例研究将由一个由社会学家和神学家组成的多学科团队进行。它将评估各港口之间在供应方面的连续性/不连续性以及宗教在货船上的各种方式。这将对海员和那些试图满足其精神/宗教需求的人具有实用价值，对宗教和工作场所的学者具有学术价值，对提高对现代经济生活中一个重要但被忽视的领域的认识具有普遍价值。

In increasingly secular societies the significance of religion could be regarded as waning. However, with increased population mobility and the tendency for some conflict to be cast around religious difference it is critical that the social sciences return to religion as a centrally important tenet. This project considers religious difference alongside spiritual need in relation to the case of global seafaring.The research will make an important contribution to our understanding of how multi-faith groups peacefully co-exist and what factors may disrupt/threaten social harmony in religiously diverse populations. The project will focus upon seafarers from different countries and of multiple faiths living and working together on ships and in ports. In the context of the challenging social circumstances where they live and work (confined in relatively small spaces on board working cargo ships and largely isolated from wider society) it will explore how they understand their own spirituality and that of colleagues and how they manage/experience religious needs/expression. Traditionally ports in the UK and US have provided chaplaincy/welfare services to international seafarers of multiple faiths in an effort to meet a variety of spiritual/social needs. These past and present services will also be a focus for the research. Archive data will be collected charting the historical development of chaplaincy in ports in the UK/US. In addition, contemporary chaplains will be included as participants in order to understand how they shape and practice their respective religious beliefs, alongside their vocation for ministry, and how their organisations have changed over time in relation to their objectives and practices in funding such ministry. This combination of research concerns will provide the opportunity for us to analyse seafarers' own religious perspectives and attitudes towards other faiths; seafarers' spiritual needs; available support for seafarers' spiritual needs within the confines of ports; access and experiences of such port-based welfare/religious services (from the point of view of seafarers) the objectives of organisations providing chaplaincy in ports and their associated plans for the future. Three aims guide the project 1) We aim to inform better welfare/spiritual provision by organisations working in ports to seafarers calling at them 2) We aim to gain a better understanding of how traditional/non-traditional religions/spirituality are expressed, experienced, and negotiated in ports and in multinational residential workplaces (i.e. ships). 3) We will explore the evolution of religion in limited but important situations outside congregations and formally designated religious sites. In this we aim to add to academic understandings of contemporary 'religion' and its diversity and to study religion/spirituality beyond expected locations (e.g. churches/religious communities).The study has 4 main components. 1) Historical examination of archive material relating to the development of welfare and religious services in US/UK ports 2) A series of semi-structured interviews with key stakeholder organisations, which fund/manage current port-based ministry and welfare 3) Port-based ethnography focussing on observation of chaplaincy 'in action' and interviews with key participants/providers 4) Shipboard ethnography focussing on seafarers and their spiritual/religious practices/needs/expression.This bi-national case study will be conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of sociologists and theologians. It will assess continuities/discontinuities between ports in terms of provision and the diverse ways religion is present on cargo ships. This will be of practical value to seafarers and those attempting to meet their spiritual/religious needs, of academic value to scholars of religion and the workplace, and of general value in raising awareness of a vital but neglected area of modern economic life.