WHoSGreen research project investigates the practices of sensitization of children to non-religious ethics and ecological values. It combines different research approaches to offer a better understanding of non-religious parenting, their challenges and difficulties, risks and achievements in sensitizing their children to their non-religious and ecological values. The project draws attention to the everyday work of negotiation of secular and religious aspects in which non-religious parents are engaged in the public sphere and in the private sphere of their families.

The research is conducted in three countries – Romania, Hungary and Slovakia – and applies Dorothy Smith’s critical sociology approach to put people’s everyday experience at the center and understand the social changes that they desire.

This approach allows us to better answer the following questions:

How parents sensitize children to specific non-religious and ecological values?

How parents face the everyday challenges of sensitizing their children to their values within and outside the family context?

Which and how non-religious and Humanist values can enter the policy agenda and reframe environmental citizenship and raise awareness on specific topics?

Dr. Morena Tartari – project director

Morena Tartari is the PI of the research project “WHoSGreen – Without God, with responsibility. A Research Study on the secular Humanist movement’s pro-environment activism and how its members socialize the next generation to green responsibilities” funded by the „PNRR: Fonduri pentru România modernă și reformată!”, Romanian Ministry of for Innovation and Digitalization, Romanian Government, European Union, and hosted by the Department of Sociology and Social Work, Babeş-Bolyai University.

Previously, Morena Tartari was the PI of the research project RE-Green that explored the pro-environmental activism of secular humanist movements in Norway, the UK, and Italy, funded with a STARS-Starting Grant (Supporting Talents in Research Programme) by the University of Padua, Italy.

From 2019 to 2021, thanks to a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship, Dr. Tartari conducted the research project STRESS-Mums hosted by the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Dr. Tartari was also a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Southampton working at the ESRC-funded project Pro-Tech-Them directed by Prof. Anita Lavorgna.

From 2014 to 2019, she was lecturer of sociology (with annual contracts) at the University of Padua, Italy.

Dr Tartari has a research background that intersects sociology of family, social problems theory, sociology of cultural process, sociology of deviance and criminology, with publications in journals like Families, Relationships and Society, Media, Culture and Society, and several presentations in international sociological conferences. She is also the leading editor of the book Fold Devils and Moral Panics in the Covid-19 Pandemic (2024) published by Routledge.

Moreover, Morena Tartari is the Chair (2023-2025) of the Teaching Social Problems Division, for the Society for the Study of Social Problems, an academic organization based in the US.

Lecturer, PhD Gheorghe-Calin Goina – project advisor

Conferences, workshops and webinars:

Morena Tartari gave the presentation “Natura, sé e spiritualità nei movimenti Humanist” at the Conference “Le Spiritualità Contemporanee”, Centro Studi di Civiltà e Spiritualità Comparate, Fondazione Cini, Venezia, 21-22 settembre 2023.

Morena Tartari was invited as a keynote speaker at the Department of Sociology, University of Agder, Norway, and gave the presentation “Contextualizing Institutional Ethnography”, on November 15^th 2023.

Morena Tartari took part, as a lecturer, at the masterclass on Institutional Ethnography organized by the Department of Sociology, University of Agder, Norway, on November 16^th 2023.

Morena Tartari presented the paper “Investigating Identity and Spirituality in Humanist Families: From Supernatural to Natural” at the British Sociological Association Virtual Annual Conference 2024, on April 5^th 2024.

Morena Tartari acted as discussant at the online symposium “Families, Relationships, Religious and Non-religious Perspectives”, hosted by the British Sociological Association and the BSA Families and Relationships Study Group, on March 15th 2024

Morena Tartari co-organized the online symposium “Families, Relationships, Religious and Non-religious Perspectives”, hosted by the British Sociological Association and the BSA Families and Relationships Study Group, on March 15th 2024.

Morena Tartari prepared the paper “Stigma in non-religious families: hidden micro-aggressions and discrimination and non-religious identity construction across Humanist family generations in Western and Eastern Europe” accepted as oral presentation at the BSA Sociology of Religion Conference 2024 (8-10 July 2024).

Morena Tartari wrote the paper entitled, “Humanist and Atheist Movements and Environmental Activism: International Discourses and Local Experiences” accepted for oral presentation by the organizer of the “Environmental Activism: Local to Global” session at the 2024 SSSP Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada.

Morena Tartari wrote the paper entitled, “Teaching about Environmental Social Problems through First-hand Research Results: Strategies to Prepare Tools and Presentations for Students and Professionals” accepted for oral presentation by the organizer of the “PAPERS IN THE ROUND: Teaching about Environmental Social Problems” at the 2024 SSSP Annual Meeting.

Morena Tartari prepared the paper “Narratives of Joy: Exploring Non-Religious Identity Construction across Humanist Family Generations in Western and Eastern Europe” accepted as oral presentation at European Sociological Association 2024 Conference (27-30 August 2024)

Morena Tartari has been included as author in the paper “Collaborative IE Analysis” [leading author: Ann Christin Eklund Nilsen] accepted as oral presentation at European Sociological Association 2024 Conference (27-30 August 2024).

Morena Tartari was invited as a keynote speaker by the PhD Programme “Sociology and Methodology of Social Research” (SOMET), University of Turin, and gave a lecture to the PhD students on the applications of Institutional Ethnography on 5^th February 2024.

Morena Tartari was invited to give two lectures on the WHoSGreen research project, on May 7th 2024 at the course of Sociology of Religion (BA Sociological Sciences), and on May 8th 2024 at the course of Cultures and Religions (BA Political Sciences, International Relations, Human Rights) hosted by the School of Economics and Political Sciences, University of Padua.

Other Activities:

Morena Tartari organized the Conference “Institutional Ethnography as a Sociology for People. A conference on the work and legacy of Dorothy Smith” on April 18 and 19 2024 at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, UBB.

Here the conference programme: https://socasis.ubbcluj.ro/institutional-ethnography-as-a-sociology-for-people-a-conference-on-the-work-and-legacy-of-dorothy-smith/

Morena Tartari organized a workshop, with Dr Órla M. Murray as speaker, on Institutional Ethnography on 19 April 2024 for students and postdocs at the Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, UBB.

Morena Tartari was actively involved, in 2023-2024, in the activities of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), a US-based academic organization, as chair (2023-2025) of the Teaching Social Problems Division and as chair (2023-2024) of the Transnational Initiatives Committee. In these roles, she organized sessions at the SSSP Annual Meeting in Montreal, and a workshop to be held at the SSSP 2025 Annual Meeting in Chicago on teaching social problems for social change.

Morena Tartari led the preparation of a proposal for the 2024 call of the EU-funded COST-Actions program with partners from 14 countries.

Morena was also one of the co-organizers of the Research Stream on IE (RS01) at the European Sociological Association (ESA) 2022 and 2024 conferences.

Publications:

The paper “Green Activism in non-religious families” has been accepted for the special issue “Religion and non-religion in family life” of the Annual Review of Sociology of Religion, vol. 17, that will be published in 2026.

The chapter “Natura, sé e spiritualità nei movimenti Humanist” [translation: “Nature, self, and spirituality in Humanist movements”] has been accepted for publication in the book Dalla spiritualità alle spiritualità [translation: “From spirituality to spiritualities”], sponsored by the Italian Association of Sociology (AIS) – Section Sociology of Religion and Fondazione Giorgio Cini and edited by Giuseppe Giordan, Stefania Palmisano e Francesco Piraino. The book will be published at the end of 2024.

The chapter “Environmental responsibilities: non-religious parents’ practices and narratives” has been accepted for the book Parents’ responsibilities. Exploring new contexts, practices, social relations, and discourses that will be edited by Morena Tartari and Sarah Murru (KU Leuven) and published by Bristol University Press in 2025.

Morena Tartari co-edits, with Dr Hamide Elif Üzümcü, University of Edinburgh, the special issue “Faith and Non-Faith Worldviews in Understanding Family Relationships”, hosted by the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy. This special issue will be published in 2025 and will contain an introduction written by Dr Tartari and Dr. Üzümcü.

Morena Tartari co-edits, with Dr Olga Breskaya, University of Padua, the special issue “Religion and non-religion in family life” hosted by the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion. This special issue will be published in 2026 and will contain an introduction written by Dr Tartari and Dr Breskaya.

Morena Tartari co-edits with Dr. Sarah Murru (KU Leuven) the book Parents’ responsibilities. Exploring new contexts, practices, social relations, and discourses that will be published by Bristol University Press in 2025 and will contain an introduction written by Dr Tartari and Dr Murru.

Project’s Key Findings

Dr Morena Tartari, Project Director: morena.tartari@ubbcluj.ro