Effie Fokas
Biographic Data
| ID | 447616 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Effie Fokas |
| GIVEN NAMES | Effie |
| FAMILY NAME | Fokas |
| SIGNATURE | FOKAS E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-7798-3648 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 26 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics in Europe
Nationalism in the Judicialization and Culturalization of Religion: The Case of Religious Education in Greece
Religious education (RE) is frequently a topic of intense political debate and a focal point of party politics in the Greek context. This article presents the latest chapter in political contestation over the teaching of religion in Greek public schools, one which entails a new dimension—that of intense judicialization. Since 2015, the issue of religious education in Greek public schools has been the subject of multiple court cases addressed by t…
David Martin on religion and nationalism: Navigator of contested territories
On Aims, Means, and Unintended Consequences: The Case of Molla Sali
This contribution speaks to this Special Issue's guiding question of how the approach to freedom of religion and minority protection can be combined to foster the protection of religious communities and their members by examining a particular European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case that provokes a contrasting question: 'What happens when provisions for religious minority protection lead to the violation rather than protection of members' righ…
Rights not working? Grassroots-level impact of the European Court of Human Rights on religion
This article offers a sociology of religion approach to the study of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) religious freedoms jurisprudence. Specifically, it presents multidisciplinary research conducted on grassroots-level impact of that jurisprudence. That research maps onto the European context North American socio-legal theory which demonstrates that the direct effects of courts, in terms of prompting legal change, entail only a very sma…
Religion and Education in the Shadow of the European Court of Human Rights
This article presents a symposium on the “indirect effects” of the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence on the place of religion in the educational sphere. The symposium showcases empirical research providing critical insight into how the Court's decisions may influence related domestic debates, raise public consciousness, and change how social actors perceive their rights and articulate their right claims in the area of religion and educ…
The “Radiating Effects” of the ECtHR on Social Mobilizations Around Religion and Education in Europe: An Analytical Frame
A growing non-legal scholarship explores the domestic implementation of international court judgments in national law and policy. Yet little attention has been paid to the indirect effects of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law: namely, the ways in which its judgments may raise public consciousness, change how social actors articulate their claims, and/or prompt mobilization among civil society actors. This paper conceptualizes the si…
The legal status of religious minorities: Exploring the impact of the European Court of Human Rights
In the last 25 years the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has evolved into a venue where some of the most contentious questions related to religion in European society are addressed. This article focuses on the grassroots level impact of the ECtHR in the domain of legal status of religious minorities. In light of scholarly debates questioning the direct effects of courts on the issues they address (i.e., legal reform and policy change), the…
The European Court of Human Rights at the grassroots level: Who knows what about religion at the ECtHR and to what effects
In the last 25 years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been increasingly addressing some of the most divisive religion-related issues facing European societies. In the process, it has been setting from above certain parameters for religious pluralism in Europe. The present contribution draws on research designed to bring the Court’s influence on religious pluralism into sharp focus, but from the ground up. We know more or less the d…
The European Court of Human Rights and minority religions: Messages generated and messages received
This contribution introduces a collection of studies focused on engagements of religious minorities with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Setting out first the global importance of the ECtHR as a standard setter in the protection of the rights of religious minorities, the text goes on to introduce the ten contributions that together make up the present special issue on the European Court of Human Rights and Religious Minorities. Beyond…
Comparative Susceptibility and Differential Effects on the Two European Courts: A Study of Grasstops Mobilizations around Religion
‘Grasstops mobilizations’ in the context of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union refers to legal and political mobilization carried out by cause lawyers, NGOs, religious, secularist and humanist organizations, political figures and national governments, and by transnational networks which may develop within and between the above groups, depending on their stakes in a given issue. In the domain of relig…
Religious Nationalism
For scholars of both religion and nationalism, the term “religious nationalism” can be a problematic one in the sense that nationalism cannot be “religious” per se, since the aim of establishing and preserving the nation is essentially secular. “Religious nationalism” can refer to an amorphous body of different phenomena, most of which though fall into one of two categories: either nationalism where secular and religious aims correspond, or natio…
Directions in Religious Pluralism in Europe: Mobilizations in the Shadow of European Court of Human Rights Religious Freedom Jurisprudence
Over the past 20 years the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has evolved into a conspicuous, often contentious, force in the multilevel battles over the place of religion in the European public sphere. In the light of scholarly debates, questioning the direct effects of courts on the issues they address, this article explores how the nature and extent of European juridical influence on religious pluralism are better understood through develo…
W. Cole Durham, Jr., Rik Torfs, David M. Kirkham and Christine Scott, Islam, Europe and emerging legal issues
The presence of Islam in Europe has acted as a catalyst for many debates on religion in Europe: it is around Islam if only superficially that some of the most conspicuous and contentious religion-related issues have arisen. The debates have now grown to encompass much broader assumptions about the place of majority and minority religious communities in society and in relation to the state. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, or the Court) …
Immigrant welfare in Greece: Portrait of a town
This paper examines majority-immigrant relations through the prism of welfare provision to glean insight into the extent to which the welfare system influences the integration of immigrants into Greek society. Does welfare provision help lead to social cohesion between the majority society and immigrant minorities? Are existing majority-immigrant tensions abated, or exacerbated, by the welfare system? What is the role of welfare provision in rela…
Eastern’ Orthodoxy and ‘Western’ Secularisation in Contemporary Europe (with Special Reference to the Case of Greece)
This paper engages with an ongoing scholarly debate on where Orthodox Europe stands in relation to (Western) European secularisation. It navigates between perspectives presenting Orthodoxy as an exception to European secularisation on the one hand, and as an imminent participant in the secularisation process via integration into European institutions on the other. Focusing on the Greek case, the inquiry examines the extent to which 'Europe' (both…
Islam In Europe The Unexceptional Case
This paper examines the concept of ‘Islam in Europe’ alongside that of ‘religion in Europe’, indicating aspects of, and consequences of, the inter-influence between the two. An underlying theme is that there is little value in seeking to understand Islam in Europe as a category on its own, as the state of flux characterising the latter is to a large extent symptomatic of and simultaneously catalytic for the flux around religion-in-general in Euro…
Secularism and secularity: Contemporary international perspectives
Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, Hartford, CT, Trinity College Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, 2007, iv +165 pp., (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-9794816-0-4 Janet R. Jakob
Islam in the framework of Turkey–EU relations: Situations in flux and moving targets
The notion that Turkish potential membership has provoked—or exacerbated—an ‘identity crisis’ for the European Union is by now a familiar truism. This article is concerned with the specifically religious identity crisis sparked by the Turkish accession process to the (secular) European Union. It takes a broadly comparative approach to the role of Islam in the Turkish political sphere and the role of religion within the European Union, suggesting …
Islam in Europe: Diversity, Identity and Influence
Events over recent years have increased the global interest in Islam. This volume seeks to combat generalisations about the Muslim presence in Europe by illuminating its diversity across Europe and offering a more realistic, highly differentiated picture. It contends with the monist concept of identity that suggests Islam is the shared and main definition of Muslims living in Europe. The contributors also explore the influence of the European Uni…
Eastern’ Orthodoxy and ‘Western’ Secularisation in Contemporary Europe (with Special Reference to the Case of Greece)
This paper engages with an ongoing scholarly debate on where Orthodox Europe stands in relation to (Western) European secularisation. It navigates between perspectives presenting Orthodoxy as an exception to European secularisation on the one hand, and as an imminent participant in the secularisation process via integration into European institutions on the other. Focusing on the Greek case, the inquiry examines the extent to which 'Europe' (both…
The European Court of Human Rights and minority religions: Messages generated and messages received
This contribution introduces a collection of studies focused on engagements of religious minorities with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Setting out first the global importance of the ECtHR as a standard setter in the protection of the rights of religious minorities, the text goes on to introduce the ten contributions that together make up the present special issue on the European Court of Human Rights and Religious Minorities. Beyond…
Religion and Education in the Shadow of the European Court of Human Rights
This article presents a symposium on the “indirect effects” of the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence on the place of religion in the educational sphere. The symposium showcases empirical research providing critical insight into how the Court's decisions may influence related domestic debates, raise public consciousness, and change how social actors perceive their rights and articulate their right claims in the area of religion and educ…
The European Court of Human Rights at the grassroots level: Who knows what about religion at the ECtHR and to what effects
In the last 25 years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been increasingly addressing some of the most divisive religion-related issues facing European societies. In the process, it has been setting from above certain parameters for religious pluralism in Europe. The present contribution draws on research designed to bring the Court’s influence on religious pluralism into sharp focus, but from the ground up. We know more or less the d…
Secularism and secularity: Contemporary international perspectives
Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, Hartford, CT, Trinity College Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, 2007, iv +165 pp., (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-9794816-0-4 Janet R. Jakob
Rights not working? Grassroots-level impact of the European Court of Human Rights on religion
This article offers a sociology of religion approach to the study of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) religious freedoms jurisprudence. Specifically, it presents multidisciplinary research conducted on grassroots-level impact of that jurisprudence. That research maps onto the European context North American socio-legal theory which demonstrates that the direct effects of courts, in terms of prompting legal change, entail only a very sma…
The legal status of religious minorities: Exploring the impact of the European Court of Human Rights
In the last 25 years the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has evolved into a venue where some of the most contentious questions related to religion in European society are addressed. This article focuses on the grassroots level impact of the ECtHR in the domain of legal status of religious minorities. In light of scholarly debates questioning the direct effects of courts on the issues they address (i.e., legal reform and policy change), the…
Islam in the framework of Turkey–EU relations: Situations in flux and moving targets
The notion that Turkish potential membership has provoked—or exacerbated—an ‘identity crisis’ for the European Union is by now a familiar truism. This article is concerned with the specifically religious identity crisis sparked by the Turkish accession process to the (secular) European Union. It takes a broadly comparative approach to the role of Islam in the Turkish political sphere and the role of religion within the European Union, suggesting …
Islam in Europe: Diversity, Identity and Influence
Events over recent years have increased the global interest in Islam. This volume seeks to combat generalisations about the Muslim presence in Europe by illuminating its diversity across Europe and offering a more realistic, highly differentiated picture. It contends with the monist concept of identity that suggests Islam is the shared and main definition of Muslims living in Europe. The contributors also explore the influence of the European Uni…
Islam in the framework of Turkey–EU relations: Situations in flux and moving targets
The notion that Turkish potential membership has provoked—or exacerbated—an ‘identity crisis’ for the European Union is by now a familiar truism. This article is concerned with the specifically religious identity crisis sparked by the Turkish accession process to the (secular) European Union. It takes a broadly comparative approach to the role of Islam in the Turkish political sphere and the role of religion within the European Union, suggesting …
Secularism and secularity: Contemporary international perspectives
Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, Hartford, CT, Trinity College Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, 2007, iv +165 pp., (paperback), ISBN: 978-0-9794816-0-4 Janet R. Jakob
Islam In Europe The Unexceptional Case
This paper examines the concept of ‘Islam in Europe’ alongside that of ‘religion in Europe’, indicating aspects of, and consequences of, the inter-influence between the two. An underlying theme is that there is little value in seeking to understand Islam in Europe as a category on its own, as the state of flux characterising the latter is to a large extent symptomatic of and simultaneously catalytic for the flux around religion-in-general in Euro…
Eastern’ Orthodoxy and ‘Western’ Secularisation in Contemporary Europe (with Special Reference to the Case of Greece)
This paper engages with an ongoing scholarly debate on where Orthodox Europe stands in relation to (Western) European secularisation. It navigates between perspectives presenting Orthodoxy as an exception to European secularisation on the one hand, and as an imminent participant in the secularisation process via integration into European institutions on the other. Focusing on the Greek case, the inquiry examines the extent to which 'Europe' (both…
Immigrant welfare in Greece: Portrait of a town
This paper examines majority-immigrant relations through the prism of welfare provision to glean insight into the extent to which the welfare system influences the integration of immigrants into Greek society. Does welfare provision help lead to social cohesion between the majority society and immigrant minorities? Are existing majority-immigrant tensions abated, or exacerbated, by the welfare system? What is the role of welfare provision in rela…
W. Cole Durham, Jr., Rik Torfs, David M. Kirkham and Christine Scott, Islam, Europe and emerging legal issues
The presence of Islam in Europe has acted as a catalyst for many debates on religion in Europe: it is around Islam if only superficially that some of the most conspicuous and contentious religion-related issues have arisen. The debates have now grown to encompass much broader assumptions about the place of majority and minority religious communities in society and in relation to the state. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR, or the Court) …
Religious Nationalism
For scholars of both religion and nationalism, the term “religious nationalism” can be a problematic one in the sense that nationalism cannot be “religious” per se, since the aim of establishing and preserving the nation is essentially secular. “Religious nationalism” can refer to an amorphous body of different phenomena, most of which though fall into one of two categories: either nationalism where secular and religious aims correspond, or natio…
Directions in Religious Pluralism in Europe: Mobilizations in the Shadow of European Court of Human Rights Religious Freedom Jurisprudence
Over the past 20 years the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has evolved into a conspicuous, often contentious, force in the multilevel battles over the place of religion in the European public sphere. In the light of scholarly debates, questioning the direct effects of courts on the issues they address, this article explores how the nature and extent of European juridical influence on religious pluralism are better understood through develo…
Comparative Susceptibility and Differential Effects on the Two European Courts: A Study of Grasstops Mobilizations around Religion
‘Grasstops mobilizations’ in the context of the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union refers to legal and political mobilization carried out by cause lawyers, NGOs, religious, secularist and humanist organizations, political figures and national governments, and by transnational networks which may develop within and between the above groups, depending on their stakes in a given issue. In the domain of relig…
The European Court of Human Rights at the grassroots level: Who knows what about religion at the ECtHR and to what effects
In the last 25 years, the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has been increasingly addressing some of the most divisive religion-related issues facing European societies. In the process, it has been setting from above certain parameters for religious pluralism in Europe. The present contribution draws on research designed to bring the Court’s influence on religious pluralism into sharp focus, but from the ground up. We know more or less the d…
The European Court of Human Rights and minority religions: Messages generated and messages received
This contribution introduces a collection of studies focused on engagements of religious minorities with the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Setting out first the global importance of the ECtHR as a standard setter in the protection of the rights of religious minorities, the text goes on to introduce the ten contributions that together make up the present special issue on the European Court of Human Rights and Religious Minorities. Beyond…
The legal status of religious minorities: Exploring the impact of the European Court of Human Rights
In the last 25 years the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has evolved into a venue where some of the most contentious questions related to religion in European society are addressed. This article focuses on the grassroots level impact of the ECtHR in the domain of legal status of religious minorities. In light of scholarly debates questioning the direct effects of courts on the issues they address (i.e., legal reform and policy change), the…
Religion and Education in the Shadow of the European Court of Human Rights
This article presents a symposium on the “indirect effects” of the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence on the place of religion in the educational sphere. The symposium showcases empirical research providing critical insight into how the Court's decisions may influence related domestic debates, raise public consciousness, and change how social actors perceive their rights and articulate their right claims in the area of religion and educ…
The “Radiating Effects” of the ECtHR on Social Mobilizations Around Religion and Education in Europe: An Analytical Frame
A growing non-legal scholarship explores the domestic implementation of international court judgments in national law and policy. Yet little attention has been paid to the indirect effects of European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case law: namely, the ways in which its judgments may raise public consciousness, change how social actors articulate their claims, and/or prompt mobilization among civil society actors. This paper conceptualizes the si…
Rights not working? Grassroots-level impact of the European Court of Human Rights on religion
This article offers a sociology of religion approach to the study of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) religious freedoms jurisprudence. Specifically, it presents multidisciplinary research conducted on grassroots-level impact of that jurisprudence. That research maps onto the European context North American socio-legal theory which demonstrates that the direct effects of courts, in terms of prompting legal change, entail only a very sma…
David Martin on religion and nationalism: Navigator of contested territories
On Aims, Means, and Unintended Consequences: The Case of Molla Sali
This contribution speaks to this Special Issue's guiding question of how the approach to freedom of religion and minority protection can be combined to foster the protection of religious communities and their members by examining a particular European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case that provokes a contrasting question: 'What happens when provisions for religious minority protection lead to the violation rather than protection of members' righ…
Nationalism in the Judicialization and Culturalization of Religion: The Case of Religious Education in Greece
Religious education (RE) is frequently a topic of intense political debate and a focal point of party politics in the Greek context. This article presents the latest chapter in political contestation over the teaching of religion in Greek public schools, one which entails a new dimension—that of intense judicialization. Since 2015, the issue of religious education in Greek public schools has been the subject of multiple court cases addressed by t…
The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics in Europe
Political science (18 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Law (16 works) · Politics (13 works) · Religious Freedom and Discrimination (13 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (11 works) · Human rights (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Grassroots (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works)