Christmas is a not a holiday just for Christians anymore, if it ever was. Embedded in calendars around the world and long a lucrative merchandising opportunity, the festive season of Christmas enters multicultural, multi-religious public spaces through decorative displays, ritual activities and collective gatherings. The presence of Christmas in the public sphere also affects what goes on in private homes: many non-Christians get caught up in the celebration of Christmas, adapting and transforming it, adding new layers of meaning to it. In the process, Christmas becomes a contested political object, particularly when various social players begin to articulate their claims to Christmas: Is it a religious holiday, as the churches would have it – and should it therefore be ‘secularized’ in the public sphere, as the secularist view would have it? Or is it ‘cultural’ – as many different groups argue – and what does this claim entail? This workshop takes a comparative historical and ethnographic perspective on the affective and political significance of Christmas in the multicultural city. Based on a workshop model with pre-circulated papers, the two-day gathering will include scholars working on diverse regions who have considered the ways that Christmas has served as a catalyst of conflict and compromise in the “secular” yet religiously diverse city.
