The articles collected in this special issue are based on presentations given at a workshop titled “Engaging in a New Society: Conference on South Asian religions in the Nordic countries and Switzerland” in Turku, Finland, 14–15 June 2010. The event was organised and fi nanced by the Centre of Excellence in Post-Secular Culture and a Changing Religious Landscape in Finland at Åbo Akademi University, the Department for the Study of Religions of the University of Lucerne (Switzerland), and the Donner Institute, Turku (Finland). The main emphasis of the workshop was to study methods of civic engagement among South Asian people and religious organisations in the West.