The Battle for the Church of St. Francis in a town in the Czech Republic between “Hipster-Culture” and “Tradition” - Discourses in Religiosity, Youth, and Intra-Parish Civic Engagement – A Case Study

Authors

Jan Váně, University of West Bohemia in PilsenFollow
Jan Kaňák, University of West Bohemia in PilsenFollow

Author ORCID Identifier

Jan Váně ǀ ORCiD: 0000-0002-5109-505X

Jan Kaňák ǀ ORCiD: 0000-0002-8980-7235

Abstract

The relationship between civic engagement and religiosity is an already relatively researched and described phenomenon. However, insufficient attention is paid to the phenomenon of civic engagement within the parish, and moreover in the context of various discourses of religiosity In the article, we present an answer to the question: How do various discourses and their dominant positions influence Intra-Parish Civic Engagement of Youths? To formulate the answer, we use elements of constructivist grounded theory. Based on the analysis of 14 interviews and 36 documents, we describe the course of the process of dominance of traditional and hipster-culture discourse, which played varying roles in the involvement of young people in intra-parish civic engagement (IPCE) in the situation of long-term planning of the construction of a new church in a selected parish from the Czech Republic. The results of the analysis show that the hierarchical structure of the parish enabled the dominance of hipster-culture discourse, emphasizing the horizontality of relationships, which entailed a more significant involvement of youth in the IPCE process. However, the increasing emphasis on horizontality began to be perceived as a threat to verticality. With regard to the financial limits of the construction, and in the context of the hierarchical structure of the parish, the priests decided to emphasize verticality, the dominance of traditional discourse, and the diminution of IPCE by the youths.

Recommended Citation

Váně, Jan and Kaňák, Jan (2025) "The Battle for the Church of St. Francis in a town in the Czech Republic between “Hipster-Culture” and “Tradition” - Discourses in Religiosity, Youth, and Intra-Parish Civic Engagement – A Case Study," Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 45 : Iss. 5 , Article 4.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.55221/2693-2229.2627
Available at: https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol45/iss5/4