Geografie 2021, 126, 75-96
New challenges for the Slovakian geography of religions in a dynamic society
Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Economic and Social Geography, Demography, and Territorial Development, Bratislava, Slovakia
Received November 2020
Accepted January 2021
Religion represents an appealing topic for social science research. Especially in Eastern European countries, the resurgence of religious identities and practices poses many questions that are of interest to human geography. We approach this research gap in Slovakia, outlining the main research topics that have dominated the scientific field, especially atlases and census data analyses. This paper proposes several possible points of interest where research in Slovakian (and possibly Eastern Central European) religion can proceed. Topics such as secularization, non-religion and demographic aspects of religion, like research in suburban areas and areas of religious identity diminution, are potentially attractive, yet not thoroughly researched, fields. Geographers of religion should be more audible with their analysis of the relationship of religious/non-religious identity and space construction in certain contexts.
Keywords
religious identity, social construction, space, Slovakia, geography of religion, secularizatio.
Funding
This paper is was supported by research project VEGA 2/0060/19 Ethnographic Research of Non-Religion and Secularism in Modern Slovak Society (life trajectories and stories).
