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The status of women in society is very diverse worldwide. Among many important traits associated with the differentiation of gender inequality is religion, which itself must be regarded as a fluid concept with interpretations and practices ‘embedded’ and thus varying with respect to cultural and historical relations. Admitting the complexity of the issues, some religious norms and traditions can contribute to the formation of gender inequalities and to subordinate the role of women in society. Using an exploratory quantitative analysis, the influence of religiosity on gender inequality in social, economic and political spheres is examined. Three categories of states have emerged from the analysis: (a) states where the majority of inhabitants are without religious affiliation, which display the lowest levels of gender inequality; (b) Christian and Buddhist societies, with average levels of gender inequality; and (c) states with the highest levels of gender inequality across the observed variables, whose inhabitants adhere to Islam and Hinduism.

The process of postsecularisation is present not only in Western Europe but also in post-communist countries. This paper focuses on the way young adults who do not have personal experiences with communist anti-religious ideology create their own religion in postsecular society and re-imagine (post)secular spaces through personal belief. The primary assumption is that young adults, living in the specific environment of the postsecular society of Czechia, have a unique relationship with religion and spirituality. For this research, we conducted focus groups with young adults in three religiously different Czech regions. The results point to a subjective turn within the perception of religion and spirituality, connected with the separation of subjective belief from institutionalized religion and the formation of a personal 'religious hodgepodge'. All these attitudes are reflected in the formation of postsecular spaces in Czechia. The spaces of subjective belief were more diverse and creative in their imagination. We sum up that a subjective belief is formed by the space where people dwell, by their mobility, attempts at authenticity, relationship with other people, and self-reflection. The young adults in Czechia re-imagine the traditional sacred places through their own understanding of religion and spirituality within postsecular characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing secularization of society, the privatization of religion, and low trust in religious institutions, Prague Christian churches are having a hard time in succeeding. Nevertheless, most of them can find their place in society, providing activities beyond worship for their adherents and the general public. This contribution focuses on the social and cultural activities of Christian churches in Prague, analyzing the factors influencing the role of churches in the socio-cultural life of city communities and the openness of their activities for the general, nonbelieving public. This contribution builds on data collected about the location and activities of all Prague church institutions and on interviews with representatives of the 14 biggest Christian churches. The analysis identifies and further discusses the influence of the size and character of the parish community, its location, the means of communicating with the public, and the premises of the facilities on the scope and focus of socio-cultural activities. The scope and focus of church socio-cultural activities differ from one parish to another based on the identified factors; however, most of the parish communities focus on those activities that are needed in the given location. This contribution concludes stating that the spiritual, community, and secular dimensions blend in the activities that the parishes provide. The space they create for their adherents and the public has the character of a shared public space, whereby the Christian dimension remains present in the background, especially in the motivations and ethical principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, geography has included in research the increasing role of religion in postmodern Western society and space. Religion is no more being understood as an objective truth, but as an individual experience of a person with a significant impact on the perception of space and place-making. This problematic undoubtedly requires a new theoretical and empirical perception in the new geographies of religion. This paper appeals for the geographical study of the relation between religion and (postsecular) space could be significantly enhanced using feminist approaches, which enable the inclusion of personal experiences and individuality in the geographies of religion. Using the feminist approaches, the changes in religious climate, ongoing currently in the West, including Czechia, could be better addressed in geography. Thus, the paper theoretically discusses the potential of feminist approaches and argues especially for the relevancy of four topics, personal experience of people, emotions, embodiment, and the everydayness, which can offer new insights into understandings of the relation between religion and space. Similarly, methodologies used by feminist scholars provide unique option for getting to know how religious people interact with sacred as well as secular space. Therefore, the paper aims to justify the contribution of feminist approaches and the empirical research considering the creation of sacred space and framing the everyday religious experience of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent developments in cultural geography have brought forth everyday life and emotions as critical categories for understanding place. Yet, the focus on everyday emotional geographies also presents methodological challenges. This paper argues that auto‐photography is a particularly well‐suited method to explore the intricate relations between everyday practices, emotions and the formation of places. Auto‐photography combines participant‐generated photographs and participants' interpretative narrations of these photographs. Our argument is based on auto‐photographic research we conducted with 38 young women in Czechia in 2016. We asked participants to photograph everyday places that they associate with positive or negative emotions, or religious meanings, and to discuss their emotions in a following interview. We analysed participants' photographs together with their narrations. This analysis reveals the emotions and meanings participants attached to photographed places. We argue that the method of auto‐photography helps understand the complexity of everyday emotional geographies that may not be possible through other geographical methods. The strength of auto‐photography is its combination of visual representations and narratives, which help identify how ordinary everyday places without any apparent significance, such as a door or a staircase, might be sites of strong emotional intensity. The insights gained by analysing photographs and narratives together and in relation to one another produce an understanding of emotional bordering practices, anxieties and desires of place‐making. Auto‐photography thus provides multiple layers of visual and textual data that help understand the complexity of emotional geographies in mundane everyday places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Czechia could be labeled as country of an indifferent approach to religious ideas, as religious faith is considered a private issue, and the role of religion in the public sphere is low. This article summarizes the first attempt to research Korean Protestant churches active in current Czechia. A total of fourteen churches is briefly overviewed stating that the churches are not successful in gaining new members throughout the Czech population. Also, a clear distinction cannot be drawn between diaspora and missionary churches, but rather mixed types can be observed. The findings show that the churches do not accommodate their mission strategies according to the religiously indifferent milieu in Czechia, mostly because the missionaries are not aware of this situation. Moreover, language is identified as the main barrier in communication. We conclude by stating that this topic is poorly understudied and difficult to follow due to its dynamic yet closed nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this contribution we discuss the obstacles and share our opinions about the causes of delayed development of feminist and queer approaches in Czech and to some extent also Slovak human geographies. We primarily focus on a critical description of causes and factors that affected and continue to hinder their presence within local mainstream geographical thought. Among the most pressing problems, we identify the historically conditioned isolation of local geography from the 'Western' developments, the continued conservativism of the mainstream geographers, and we attempt to open up a discussion about several types of 'disciplinary anxieties' that may perpetuate these problems. Further, we stress the continued shared development of the Czech and Slovak geographies and contextualize it within recent advancements in other neighboring countries where scholars also 'fight for recognition'. Our contribution concludes with a call for intensification of cooperation and networking within (and outside of) the Central and Eastern European region which we believe is a crucial factor required for building up vibrant feminist and queer geographies with both local and international recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Western world is experiencing increasing popularity of new religious movements whose adherents tend to spirituality, a subjective, personal form of religion. These spiritual forms shape the spaces of everyday life, their meanings, perceptions, and experiences, which is starting to be reflected in new geographies of religion. In Czechia, one of the most rapidly growing new religious movements is Diamond Way Buddhism. This contribution focuses on how Diamond Way spirituality is lived and experienced in space. The paper explores this phenomenon using the method of auto-photography. We asked six women to photograph places important to them in their daily lives and interpret their spiritual meaning. This method allows exploration of women’s spirituality in the everyday spaces where it is perceived and experienced, such as kitchens, buses, or natural sites. The results show that women have a specific way of experiencing Buddhism in seemingly secular space which they describe through feminine characteristics of transcendence. Everyday spaces become spiritual through the subjects’ emotional and continual experiencing of Buddhism, while the officially sacred space of a Buddhist center is incorporated into everyday life activities of women. The division between sacred and secular spaces often described by scholars is therefore challenged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The religious climate caused significant changes over the last few decades which led to intense debates about post-secularism in Western Europe. However, there is particularly a distinct lack of analyses of the features of post-secularism in post-communist cities. The paper draws on the case study of Prague where the religious landscape is in many ways unique in a European context because of its highly secularized society. Nevertheless, Prague also experienced a revival of religious life, which has found expression in the religious landscape (not only) through the emergence of new sacral structures, pluralization of religion and post-secular rapprochement in religious institutions. The paper examines the convergent and contradictory processes shaping the religious and non-religious landscape in Prague and therefore opens the discussion about post-secularism in post-communist context. The results point to the importance of historical, social, and urban development for the new geographies of religion. New areas of research should also draw attention on the new religious movements and alternative spirituality which helps to explain the relationship between sacred and secular phenomena in current European society and space and the re-definition of the minority role of religion in the secular society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we approach religion and spirituality through the analytic lens of the everyday and examine how ordinary women make sacred space through their embodied, emotional, and spatially varying practices. Our research is grounded in Czechia where about 80% of inhabitants do not declare any religious affiliation and ‘new’ religions are on the rise. We deploy auto-photography as a method that invites participants’ own visual representations and interpretative narrations of their quotidian experiences. Thirty-eight Christian, Buddhist, and non-religious women participated in this study in 2016. Our analysis of photographs and interviews shows that our participants turn places that are not primarily associated with religion or spirituality (such as a kitchen sink or a bus stop) into sacred or spiritual places while at the same time integrate officially sacred spaces (such as churches and meditation centers) into their daily lives through social activities. Thus, we argue that a mutually transformative process is taking place in contemporary Czechia. In this process, religiously affiliated and non-affiliated women alike transform everyday spaces into sacred sites through their embodied and emotional practices that seek calmness, peace, and transcendence. At the same time, women who participate in organized religions remake the sacrality of officially sacred sites through their emphasis on social connections and feelings of communal belonging and shared identity. Our findings underscore that sacred space is not fixed in any one location and its production involves the continual emotional and material investment by ordinary women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]