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Religion et intersectionnalité : enjeux, défis et perspectives pour les sciences des religions francophones

Loïc Bizeul, Mélissa Parra-Ruiz and Frédéric Strack

Le catholicisme comme machine intersectionnelle : coproduction institutionnelle des positions et émergence d’un homocatholicisme en France

Josselin Tricou
This article proposes a theoretical shift in the use of intersectionality in the sociology of religion by analyzing Catholicism as an “intersectional machine.” While intersectional approaches have primarily focused on lived experiences of marginalization, they have less often conceptualized institutions as producers of intersectional positions. By articulating the Foucauldian notion of dispositif with Bourdieusian field theory, the article shows how the ecclesial institution produces and hierarchizes positions at the intersection of gender, sexuality, and authority. The analysis unfolds in two stages. It first examines priestly masculinity as a constrained dominant position, produced through intense bodily and affective discipline. It then proposes the concept of “homocatholicism” to designate forms of partial and conditional recognition of LGBTQ believers within the Church.

Prêtres homosexuels comme sujets tacites : dévoilement partiel et agentivité située au sein de l’Église catholique en contexte québécois

Loïc Bizeul
Based on a qualitative study conducted with seventeen homosexual Catholic priests or former priests in Quebec, this article examines the partial disclosures of their sexual orientation. By combining insights from interactionist sociology and lesbian and gay studies, it explores the tension between the normative constraints of the Catholic institution and the situated forms of agency deployed by these men. Rather than viewing their identity positioning through the lens of a normative coming-out model, the article approaches it as a pragmatic—sometimes painful, always relational—arrangement of possibilities. The priests develop a grammar of the tacit: partial disclosures, contextual silences, implicit recognition. Drawing on Decena’s concept of the “tacit subject” (2008), the article analyses these strategies as forms of negotiated agency, neither entirely visible nor completely hidden. It contributes to a sociology of sexuality and Catholicism attentive to situated identity management in normatively constrained contexts.

Judaïsme orthodoxe et homosexualité. Effet de contact et théologie pour une moindre opposition ?

Frédéric Strack
The article analyzes attitudes toward homosexuality and homosexual individuals in Orthodox Judaism. More specifically, it examines the mechanisms of production of stigmatization and tolerance of homosexuality in two French Orthodox Jewish communities. It aims to show that theological socialization predisposes individuals to condemn homosexuality as such. However, depending on the type of community considered, homosexuals are either stigmatized or relatively tolerated. It also shows that the absence or presence of contact with homosexuals reinforces these theological predispositions.

Des mères comme des autres ? Judéités et intersectionnalité à partir d’un terrain en milieu juif hassidique

Valentina Gaddi
This article examines the doubts, hesitations, and challenges surrounding the use of intersectionality to analyze the experiences of Hasidic Jewish women. Drawing on an ethnographic approach, three vignettes set the stage for the conversation. The article is then organized into three parts. First, I review the literature that, since the 1970s, has explored the intersections of antisemitism and sexism, as well as the marginalization of these concerns within mainstream feminist movements, in order to highlight the main theoretical and political stakes. Second, I analyze how these issues take shape in the case of Hasidic Jews in Quebec, focusing on the particularities of their racialization. Finally, returning to the initial vignettes, I show how this racialization process is inflected by gender, and specifically by the exclusive assignment of Hasidic women to the maternal figure. Rather than simply questioning whether the concept of intersectionality can be mechanically applied to Jewishness—and more specifically to Hasidic Jewishness—I argue that grappling with this question, along with the doubts and tensions it generates, contributes to advancing both religious studies and feminist studies, while inviting to broaden the scope of feminist and anti-racist commitments and solidarity.

Musulmans dans des professions hautement valorisées : perceptions et stratégies face à l’islamophobie. Le cas des médecins et des sportifs professionnels en France

Matys Verlant and Jean-Philippe Perreault
Deriving from the “Religion and Intersectionality” panel held at the third Biennial Congress of the Société Québécoise d’Étude de la Religion, this article examines the specific forms of Islamophobia experienced by Muslims who belong to “elite” circles in France, leveraging an intersectional perspective that intertwines upper social class and religious belonging. Based on qualitative research conducted with Muslim doctors and professional athletes, it sheds light on how religious visibility—particularly through signs perceived as Muslim—triggers processes of racialization and essentialization, even within spaces expected to be meritocratic. Although the interviewees tend to downplay the impact of discrimination on their trajectories, they nonetheless develop (in)visibility strategies aimed at preserving their professional and social legitimacy. The analysis thus reveals the tensions between social recognition and minority belonging in environments where Islam remains a marker of suspicion.

La maternalisation de la radicalisation et du terrorisme islamique : une analyse intersectionnelle

Amani Braa
Drawn from a doctoral dissertation in sociology on the family experiences of radicalization in Quebec, Italy, and Tunisia, this article is based on a qualitative study of one hundred and thirty-one Muslim families and thirty interviews with prevention professionals. It examines how radicalization is reframed as a family issue. While recent scholarship has described this process as the “familialization” of radicalization and Islamic terrorism (Ahdash, 2024), our findings show that it takes a more specific form: maternalization. Muslim immigrant mothers are simultaneously blamed for failing to prevent radicalization and enlisted as its remedy, assumed to be naturally capable of monitoring, correcting, and disciplining their children. Drawing on the concept of intersectionality of systemic oppressions (Roberts, 1991), the article highlights how gender, race, class, and religion intersect to transform these mothers into compelled agents of social and security control.

La « modernité » en sociologie des religions : fin de partie ?

Lionel Obadia
Central to the sociology of religion in the 1980s and 1990s, the concept of modernity is no longer as central to analysis in the 2020s as it once was. While it undoubtedly retains significant heuristic value and continues to serve as a key reference point in religious studies, its lexical scope has diminished over time, owing to both theoretical exhaustion and the emergence of competing concepts, particularly that of globalization. This article will broadly trace the major stages of modernity’s trajectory within sociology and the social sciences more generally, and within the sociology of religion specifically, before ultimately examining its relevance in the contemporary context of massive digitization of societies.

Connivence et expérience dans les formations de développement personnel

Philippe Le Page
This article focuses on the methods used by self-help training courses to facilitate the adoption of their teachings among their participants within a limited period. To do this, attention is paid to the “connivance” developed in these training courses and the emphasis placed on experience. Connivance is an effort made within the training context, or on the part of the facilitators, to convince participants that the teachings are plausible and effective. This article will discuss the development of this connivance based on the testimony of other participants. A look will also be taken at the experiential approach of these training courses, which aims for a stronger integration of their teachings while giving participants the freedom, through a selection of self-help tools, to choose what seems useful and relevant to them.

Violences sexuelles dans l’Église catholique : les défis et les besoins des journalistes qui couvrent ces affaires

François Gloutnay
The media take only a superficial interest in sexual violence within the Catholic Church. Certainly, they cover current events (the filing of a lawsuit, an official statement, a court ruling), but they have rarely conducted in-depth investigations into these cases. The reason is simple: journalists specializing in news about churches, religions, and beliefs are becoming increasingly rare in Quebec.

Catherine Foisy et Étienne Lapointe (dir.), « La théologie de la libération vue du Québec » [dossier thématique], dans Bulletin d’histoire politique, printemps 2025, vol. 32 no 2, p. 7-153

Denise Couture

Céline Béraud, Une religion parmi d’autres. Le catholicisme en prison et à l’hôpital, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 2025, 408 p., ISBN : 9782130876151*

Laurine Hudry

Marc Lienhard, Les religions abrahamiques, Lyon, Éditions Olivétan, 2022, 478 p., ISBN 9782354796013

Fabrizio Vecoli