Recent Publications by Project Members
Jewish State, Islamic State: All States are Religious
— by Elizabeth Shakman Hurd
Waking up to Still Being a Faith-Based Nation
— by Winnifred Fallers Sullivan
International Conferences
Delhi (January 2009): Religious Freedom, Pluralism, and Secularisms
Istanbul (July 2008): The History and Politics of Secularism
ASU's Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict (CSRC) promotes interdisciplinary
research and education on the dynamics of religion and conflict with the aim
of advancing knowledge, seeking solutions and informing policy.
Disputes over the nature and legitimacy of the secular state and society have
exploded in recent decades both in the United States and abroad. Religious actors
and movements increasingly challenge, and sometimes violently resist, the secular
consensus that has dominated politics and policy in modern democratic states.
Greater understanding of the nature and varieties of secularism is urgently
needed to move past polarized and increasingly inflammatory positions that pit
an antireligious secularism against religious actors suspicious if not hostile
to the secular state and society.
The project, funded by the Ford Foundation, will explore the varieties and politics
of secularism and the public role of religion, focusing on France, India, Turkey
and the United States. It will support international conferences, workshops,
and publications in order to:
- Generate a deeper understanding of the dynamics of religion and the secular across these countries (France, India, Turkey, and the US), in light of broader global dynamics.
- Rethink the dominant public narratives that shape attitudes and perceptions about the interface of religion and the secular within and across countries.
- Foster new crossdisciplinary and international conversations that create space for fresh thinking on the challenges of religious pluralism within the new global order.
The project is led by Linell Cady, Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict and Franca G. Oreffice Dean's Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at Arizona State University, in collaboration with an international project team and additional researchers at ASU.