Beyond Religious Freedom

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Religious Difference ◽  
Power Difference ◽  
Ways Of Being

In recent years, North American and European nations have sought to legally remake religion in other countries through an unprecedented array of international initiatives. Policymakers have rallied around the notion that the fostering of religious freedom, interfaith dialogue, religious tolerance, and protections for religious minorities are the keys to combating persecution and discrimination. This book argues that these initiatives create the very social tensions and divisions they are meant to overcome. It looks at three critical channels of state-sponsored intervention: international religious freedom advocacy, development assistance and nation building, and international law. It shows how these initiatives make religious difference a matter of law, resulting in a divide that favors forms of religion authorized by those in power and excludes other ways of being and belonging. In exploring the dizzying power dynamics and blurred boundaries that characterize relations between “expert religion,” “governed religion,” and “lived religion,” the book charts new territory in the study of religion in global politics. The book provides new insights into today's most pressing dilemmas of power, difference, and governance.

Introduction

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
International Projects ◽  
History Of

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book considers the history of state efforts to define and shape forms of religiosity that are understood to be conducive to particular regimes of governance. It offers a focused discussion that brings together several questions and concerns that have not been considered together before to develop three related arguments about these political projects and the fields in which they are deployed. First, it shows how particular constructs of religious freedom, religious tolerance, and the rights of religious minorities are being packaged into political projects and delivered around the world by states and others. Second, it contributes to the literature on religion and international relations by historicizing and politicizing the attempt over the past two decades to incorporate a concern for religion into the study and practice of global politics. Third, the book embeds the study of religion and politics in a series of broader social and interpretive fields by exploring the relation between these international projects and the social, religious, and political contexts in which they are deployed.

The Blessings of Liberty

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Witte, Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
Legal Tradition ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Legal Scholar ◽  
Religious Traditions

Leading legal scholar John Witte, Jr. explores the role religion played in the development of rights in the Western legal tradition and traces the complex interplay between human rights and religious freedom norms in modern domestic and international law. He examines how US courts are moving towards greater religious freedom, while recent decisions of the pan-European courts in Strasbourg and Luxembourg have harmed new religious minorities and threatened old religious traditions in Europe. Witte argues that the robust promotion and protection of religious freedom is the best way to protect many other fundamental rights today, even though religious freedom and other fundamental rights sometimes clash and need judicious balancing. He also responds to various modern critics who see human rights as a betrayal of Christianity and religious freedom as a betrayal of human rights.

scholarly journals The situation of freedom of religion and belief in the South Caucasus

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 98-101
Author(s):  
Shorena Kobaidze
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
State Agency ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Religious Tolerance ◽  
The South ◽  
South Caucasus ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Caucasus Region ◽  
The Past

Attitude towards freedom of religion and belief, tolerance and the concept of multiculturalism, as well as generally towards the protection of the rights of national, ethnic and religious minorities, remains extremely difficult in the South Caucasus region. Despite the declared strong tradition of public religious tolerance, the attitude of government agencies and institutions to religious freedom has worsened in both Azerbaijan and Georgia over the past few years. If in Azerbaijan the authorities in recent years continued to impose fines for violating the repressive law on religion of 2009, adopting new restrictions and further aggravating the general atmosphere, in Georgia since the establishment of the new state agency on religions in 2014, there are no effective mechanisms for resolving minority issues have not been taken.

Accommodating Religious Identities in an Islamic State: International Law, Freedom of Religion and the Rights of Religious Minorities

2000 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Religious Identities ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Subject

AbstractThis article examines the controversial and divisive issues of freedom of religion and the rights of religious minorities. A major stumbling-block in attaining a consensus on the subject has been the attitude of certain states which purport to follow the Sharia. The article however contends that in reality it is possible for Islamic states to find a great measure of compatibility with practices advocated by Western states on issues concerning the rights of religious minorities and religious freedom. Through an investigation of state practices, the paper concludes that the causes of the existing inconsistencies are embedded not in the Islamic system of governance (which these states are claiming to follow) but in domestic politics and constitutional inadequacies.

The ‘Question of Palestine’: From liminality to emancipation

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-127
Author(s):  
Victoria Mason
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
Liminal Space ◽  
Significant Potential ◽  
Inherent Vulnerability ◽  
State Of Affairs

AbstractWhile the gravity of the injustice and inequality experienced by Palestinians is now widely documented, evidenced, and acknowledged, when it comes to action the situation appears ‘impervious’ to international law and norms of global politics, with Israel largely enjoying impunity. This article argues that this state of affairs can be most coherently understood through a critical interdisciplinary emancipatory framework centred on ‘liminality’. Referring to situations and actors ‘betwixt and between’, the framework of liminality offers significant potential for understanding how particular actors and spaces are intentionally marginalised, disempowered, and silenced within global politics and international law. Furthermore, in revealing the root causes of liminality, and the inherent vulnerability of such spaces to contestation and subversion, the framework also opens up potential pathways of transformative emancipation. Applying the lens of liminality to Palestine, it is demonstrated that Palestinians have been deliberately corralled to a liminal space within international law and global politics in order to enable an expansionist Zionist/Israeli settler colonial enterprise. After exploring how Palestinian liminality manifests in global politics and international law, the article turns to a range of efforts to subvert Palestinian liminality and assesses prospects for a teleological emancipation for Palestinians.

The Revival of Buddhist Nationalism in Thailand and Its Adverse Impact on Religious Freedom

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang
Keyword(s):  
Collective Identity ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Adverse Impact ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
The Government

Abstract Triggered by the sense of crisis, the Thai state and Thai Buddhism are renewing their traditional relationship kindled by the monarch-led reform over a century ago. Thai Buddhism is reviving its lost aura and hegemony while the political conservatives are looking for legitimacy and collective identity in a time of democratic regression. The result is the rise of the Buddhist-nationalistic movement, Buddhist-as-Thainess notion. The phenomenon has grown more mainstream in recent years. These extreme Buddhists pressure the government to adopt a new constitutional relationship that brings the two entities closer to a full establishment. They also target both religious minorities as well as non-mainstream Buddhists. The revival of Buddhist nationalism foretells rising tension as well as diminishing religious freedom.

Reconciling state promises and practices: Constitutional promises and discrimination against religious minorities

2021 ◽  
pp. 003776862110123
Author(s):  
Roger Finke ◽  
Dane R Mataic
Keyword(s):  
Religious Freedom ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Minority Religions ◽  
Independent Judiciary ◽  
Poor Predictor

Research on religious freedom has found a vast chasm between constitutional promises and state practices, with constitutional promises being a poor predictor of the state’s support of religious freedom. This research changes the focus from religious freedom to religious equality. We propose that constitutional promises of religious equality will be associated with less discrimination against minority religions and we explore the relationships governance and the promises of religious equality hold with religious discrimination. We find that promises of religious equality are associated with less discrimination. When exploring the interactions between promises of equality and our governance measures, we find constitutional promises of religious equality largely erase the differences in religious discrimination between countries with and without free elections and an independent judiciary. Yet, the reduced discrimination against minority religions does not suggest that the state removes restrictions on minority religions, only that they are equal with other religions.

scholarly journals What is religious freedom and who has it?

2021 ◽  
pp. 003776862110123
Author(s):  
Jonathan Fox
Keyword(s):  
Liberal Democracy ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Economic Prosperity ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Religion And State

Religious freedom (RF) is important because it is posited to be a central element of liberal democracy and as having multiple additional benefits including increased security and economic prosperity. Yet, it is also a disputed concept and many liberal democracies restrict the freedoms of religious minorities. This study uses the Religion and State (RAS) dataset to examine the extent of RF in 183 countries based on six definitions of RF. The author examines whether religious minorities are restricted in a manner that the majority is not, regulation of the majority religion, and imposition of precepts of the majority religion on a country’s population. He finds that very few countries, including liberal democracies, meet any standard for RF, even when one allows for ‘loose’ standards where some violations of RF are allowed.

The Neutral State: Optional or Necessary?: A Triangular Analysis of State–Religion Relationships, Democratisation and Human Rights Compliance

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeroen Temperman
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
Religious Denomination ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Religious Difference ◽  
Full Compliance ◽  
State Neutrality

AbstractThis article suggests a signicant correlation between the notions of state neutrality and religious freedom. The absence of a considerable degree of state neutrality has a detrimental effect on human rights compliance. Under states which identify themselves strongly with a single religious denomination as well as under states which identify themselves negatively in relation to religion, there is no scope for human rights compliance. Both extreme types of state–religion identication are characterised by repression of all beliefs and manifestations thereof which do not correspond with the state sanctioned view on belief. This may be either the upholding of a specic religious denomination or of militant ideological secularism. Consequently, discrimination and marginalisation rather than compliance with the norms of freedom of religion and the promotion of non-discrimination comprise policy and practice under these regimes. Intermediate forms of state–religion afliation, i.e. types of identication in which the state is not drenched with the excluding ideals of a single denomination or with anti-religious sentiments, allow for a degree of democratic inclusion of religious difference and of religious tolerance. The most substantial scope for full compliance, however, lies in the combination of democratic inclusion of people from different religions and the indispensable political commitment characterised as state neutrality with respect to all people. State neutrality refers to a regime of state–religion identi cation that can best be understood as 'accommodative non-partisanship'.

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