The Religious Studies Project recently interviewed Daan Beekers for a podcast on “Spatial Contestations and Conversions”. Daan conducted postdoctoral research on the abandonment and re-use of church buildings in the Netherlands, first in the HERA project Iconic Religion and then in the Religious Matters in an Entangled World project (both at Utrecht University). In the podcast, hosted by Christopher Cotter, Daan discusses how he has approached his research, before going into two case-studies in more detail: the Fatih Mosque and the Chassé Dance Studios, both in former Catholic churches in Amsterdam. The conversation focuses on the social and historical entanglements found within these sites, the divergent and contesting frames of valuing church buildings (as ‘heritage’ or otherwise) and the question what, if anything, makes these cases different from the repurposing of other – ‘non-religious’ – buildings. Visit the Religious Studies Project website to listen to the podcast or read its transcription.
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