An Empirical Study on the Social Role of Religion in Building a Multicultural Society

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02239
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Religious studies
• Research Institution: Momoyama Gakuin University (2018-2020); Kwansei Gakuin University (2017)
• Principal Investigator: SHIRAHASE TATSUYA 桃山学院大学, 社会学部, 准教授 (40612924)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 岡井 宏文 早稲田大学, 人間科学学術院, その他(招聘研究員) (10704843) ; 高橋 典史 東洋大学, 社会学部, 教授 (50633517) ; 徳田 剛 大谷大学, 社会学部, 准教授 (60346286) ; 星野 壮 大正大学, 文学部, 専任講師 (60725381)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 移民 / 宗教 / 多文化共生 / カトリック / ムスリム

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this project is to empirically clarify how religious organizations are responding to the increasing number of immigrants in contemporary Japan from the perspective of multicultural coexistence.
The main targets of the survey are religious organizations, such as Christian and Islamic organizations, that serve as bases for immigrants. In addition to this, by surveying associations for the purpose of international exchange, we were able to grasp the actual state of relations between civil society and faith-based immigrant groups. As a result of this research, we were able to confirm that a certain degree of multicultural coexistence has been achieved within religious organizations, but that there are many issues to be addressed in realizing multicultural coexistence outside of religious organizations. The greatest achievement of this research was the publication of a book entitled "Religion and Multicultural Coexistence. in Contemporary Japan.

Free Research Field

宗教学、社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究プロジェクトの学術的意義は、地域社会をフィールドに設定することで、多文化共生をはじめとする移民研究と宗教社会学における移民研究の接合が実現できたことである。学際的なプロジェクトであったため、社会学を中心に文化人類学、宗教学、社会福祉学における知見を総合することができた。