Paul Bramadat

Paul Bramadat received his BA in religious studies from the University of Winnipeg (1990), his MA in religion and culture from McGill University (1993) and his PhD in religious studies from McMaster University (1998). In addition to directing the CSRS since 2008, Paul holds teaching appointments in the Department of History and the Religious Studies Program at the University of Victoria. During 2011-2012 he will serve as the director of the Religious Studies Program. He taught in the Religious Studies Department at the University of Winnipeg from 1998 until 2008.

His first book, The Church on the World’s Turf (Oxford 2000), examined the ways religious sub-cultures can thrive in largely secular environments. His most recent book is International Migration and the Governance of Religious Diversity (McGill-Queen’s University Press 2009), co-edited with German sociologist Matthias Koenig.

Paul has published broadly on issues related to ethnic diversity in Canada, the two most relevant publications being Religion and Ethnicity in Canada (Pearson 2005; University of Toronto Press 2009), and Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada (University of Toronto 2008). His articles have appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Ethnicities, Canadian Ethnic Studies, Studies in Religion, Ethnologies, and the Journal of International Migration and Integration, as well as magazines such as Canadian Diversity, The Ecumenist and Canadian Issues.

He has just completed a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded project on postcolonial religious narratives among Indo-Caribbean Canadian Christians. As well, he has been involved in collaborative policy relevant research and the management of major research projects. In particular, for over a decade he has been an active member of the Metropolis Project, an international and national network for comparative public policy research on migration, diversity and immigrant integration in urban centres.

He is often commissioned by federal government departments and agencies such as Citizenship and Immigration, Canadian Heritage, the Metropolis Project and Public Safety Canada to lecture and write about the implications of religious diversity for Canadian policy makers interested in immigration, inclusion and security. As well, he spoke recently about secularism and religion in the Breakfast on the Hill series on Parliament Hill and about religious minorities and social inclusion at the Senate Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology.

Research interests

I am interested in the intersections between secularism, religious radicalization, securitization, post-colonialism, and religious identity in contemporary Canada. A great many of my research interests revolve around emerging understandings of religious, political and ethnic identity in rapidly evolving liberal democratic societies.

At present, I am involved in four research projects.

The Role of Religiously Affiliated Settlement Agencies (RASA) in BC: Past, Present, and Future: This project, funded by Metropolis British Columbia, explores the contributions of RASA to Canadian society. Among other questions, I propose to address: how much labour do such groups perform for the state?; how might these functions be influenced by (secularizing) changes both within settlement agencies and federal and provincial governments? This BC-based pilot project will serve as the basis for a much larger national and international comparative project which draws other locales as well as the recipients of RASA services into the analysis.

Religion, Radicalization and Securitization: This CSRS-based project is funded by Public Safety Canada and Defence Research and Development Canada; the principal investigators are Lorne Dawson and myself. Our team of scholars will address the relationship between the forces of radicalization (within particular minority religious groups in Canada) and securitization (by the state and society).

Spiritual Understandings of a Good Death in Hospice Palliative Care: This CSRS-based project is funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research; the principal investigators are Harold Coward, Kelli Stajduhar and myself. We examine the way “spirituality” has in many cases eclipsed religion in the discourses related to the good death in hospice palliative care. What are the sources and implications of this shift? Are hospice workers prepared to engage “spiritual but not religious” patients as they approach the final stages of their lives?

Religious and Cultural Roots of Vaccine Refusal: This project is funded by the Réseau de recherche en santé des populations du Québec; the principal investigators are Maryse Guay, Real Roy, Julie Bettinger and myself. We examine the various cultural, psychological and religious forces at work in our society leading to anxieties about the safety and value of vaccinations for themselves and their families.

Major publications

2011. Immigration. In Immigration; Encyclopedia of Global Religion, eds. Wade Clark Roof, Mark Juergensmeyer. London: Sage (forthcoming).

2011. They Were Always Such Nice Boys: Religion, Radicalization and Securitization in Canada and Beyond. Our Diverse Cities 8: 54-58.

2011. Religion, Race, and Remembering: Indo-Caribbean Christians in Canada. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 79 (2). Pp. 315-345.

2009. International Migration and the Governance of Religious Diversity. Paul Bramadat and Matthias Koenig, eds. Montreal: McGill-Queens University Press.

2008. Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada. Paul Bramadat and David Seljak, eds. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

2008. Religion and Public Policy in Canada: An Itinerary. Studies in Religion. 37 (1): 121-143.

2005. Religion and Ethnicity in Canada. Paul Bramadat and David Seljak, eds. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada. 252pp.

2005. Toward a New Politics of Authenticity: Ethno-Cultural Representation in Theory and Practice. Canadian Ethnic Studies. 37 (1). Pp. 1-20.

2005. Religion, Social Capital and “The Day that Changed the World.” Journal of International Migration and Integration. 6 (2). Pp. 201-218.

2001. Shows, Selves, and Solidarity: Ethnic Identity and Cultural Spectacles in Canada. Canadian Ethnic Studies. 33 (3). Pp. 78-98.

2001. For Ourselves, Our Neighbours, Our Homelands: Religion in Folklorama’s Israel Pavilion. Ethnologies. 23 (1). Pp. 211-232.

2000. The Church on the World’s Turf: An Evangelical Christian Group at a Secular University. New York: Oxford University Press. 205pp.