5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)

People all over the world are migrating, in numbers never seen before. New migrant settlements are emerging, and old ones are shifting and cracking. This massive mobilization of people is transforming not only the demographics of nations but also their secular and religious institutions and practices. Cities have become laboratories that manifest these migration transformations, from new local labor marketplaces to new worshiping localities and repurposing religious spaces. In other words, cities are cultural, social, and historical archives of migration. This includes first and second-generation as well as new citizens.

In these differentiated, and territorially specific contexts, religious affiliations and religiosity play a fundamental role in both the process of acceptance, integration, rejection, and also valorization and affirmation of people. Furthermore, these processes have significantly impacted the material and immaterial aspects of urban space, transforming it and generating both processes of accentuating fear and conflict, but also for the most part accelerating the process of accepting re-encounters, dialogues, and syncretism(s).

The panel aims to offer a multifaceted and multidimensional overview of urban material and immaterial transformations related to migration processes and religious dynamics, to foster a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities characterizing contemporary cities and their policies.

This panel welcomes contributions related to the transformations generated in cities at the intersections of migration and religion. Its potential socio-cultural and policy repercussions are investigated through both theoretical reflections and case studies, as well as innovating and challenging comparative perspectives and configurations for the study of religion and migration.