The Religion Factor

We start the new year with a post by Dr Alanna Cant. Drawing on recent fieldwork in Oaxaca, Mexico, Cant explores church-state relations through the lens of church restoration, religious ‘heritage’, and popular devotion to the saints.

Drs Fernande Pool and Timothy Stacey (see bio’s at end of this post) have recently launched the Lived Religion Project (http://livedreligionproject.com/), a story project focusing on the ‘religious’ lives of ordinary people.

In today’s post, Sanne Hupkes reflects on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia's (ICTY) trial of Ratko Mladic. Sanne is a PhD student whose research focuses on the role of (power-sharing) democracy in peace operations. She is concerned with the place of (religious) collective identities within democracy in post-conflict societies. Bosnia-Herzegovina is one of the sites of her research.

How does the law shape the category of (free) religion, and by which mechanisms does this shaping occur? Building on conversations started at the Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalisation’s recent conference, ‘Reimagining Difference: Being, Thinking and Practicing Beyond Essentialism’, this collaborative Religion Factor and Religion: Going Public blog series explores law’s approach to – and creation of – religion and religious liberty. In our final post, Gary McLelland of the International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) mounts a defence of the necessary complexity of freedom of religion or belief from the perspective of a human rights practitioner.

How does the law shape the category of (free) religion, and by which mechanisms does this shaping occur? Building on conversations started at the Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalisation’s recent conference, ‘Reimagining Difference: Being, Thinking and Practicing Beyond Essentialism’, this collaborative Religion Factor and Religion: Going Public blog series explores law’s approach to – and creation of – religion and religious liberty. In this post, ​Lourdes Peroni examines the enforcement of unspoken normative borders by administrative bodies and lower courts.

How does the law shape the category of (free) religion, and by which mechanisms does this shaping occur? Building on conversations started at the Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalisation’s recent conference, ‘Reimagining Difference: Being, Thinking and Practicing Beyond Essentialism’, this collaborative Religion Factor and Religion: Going Public blog series explores law’s approach to – and creation of – religion and religious rights. In this post, Professor ​Richard Amesbury examines bureaucracy’s politics of depoliticisation.

How does the law shape the category of (free) religion, and by which mechanisms does this shaping occur? Building on conversations started at the Centre for Religion, Conflict and Globalisation’s recent conference, ‘Reimagining Difference: Being, Thinking and Practicing Beyond Essentialism’, this collaborative Religion Factor and Religion: Going Public blog series explores law’s approach to – and creation of – religion and religious rights. In this post, the Centre's Dr Méadhbh McIvor responds to Helge Årsheim by reflecting on sex, politics, and legal tedium.

How does the law shape the category of (free) religion, and by which mechanisms does this shaping occur? Building on conversations started at theCentre for Religion, Conflict and Globalisation‘s recent conference, ‘Reimagining Difference: Being, Thinking and Practicing Beyond Essentialism’, this blog series explores law’s approach to – and creation of – religion and religious rights. Helge Årsheim opens our exchange by asking: How should scholars of religion understand the ‘fine print’ that determines the limits of religious freedom?

In today’s blogpost the key note speaker of our Jubilee Conference, Elizabeth Shakman Hurdexplores the politics of religious difference and the problems and challenges raised by religious freedom in the protection of minorities through a case study of the Rohingya in Myanmar. Prof Hurd will be speaking on the topic of ‘Thinking Differently about religion, politics and power’ on 13 September. Today’s post is a brief introduction to themes she will explore in greater depth in her talk.

Numerous events in the European public sphere, from the Danish cartoons affair to the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and their aftermath, have provoked a significant debate about the notion of offence in relation to religious sensibilities, as well as on the potential limitations of freedom of expression. Yet, it is not just in relation to religious minorities and religious sensibilities that the issue of offence is important. The nature of offence, and the right to be offended are also crucial components of responses to sexual harassment. In this blog post, Aukje Muller explores what, if anything, we might learn by considering approaches to offence within sexual harassment law that could help us navigate the tricky terrain of religious minority rights, freedom of expression and offence in contemporary European politics.