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
The History and Politics of Secularism (Istanbul, July 6-9, 2008)
Overview
This is the second conference in a series of four developed as part of the multiyear project titled “Public Religion, the Secular, and Democracy: An International Crossdisciplinary Project.” Funded by the Ford Foundation, the project is designed to deepen understanding of the varieties and politics of secularism and the public role of religion, focusing on France, India, Turkey, and the U.S.
The project and this conference seek to chart new pathways for moving past
the stereotypes and polarizations now stalking this topic. A comparative and
crossdisciplinary approach is intended to provide the space for fresh thinking
and a global perspective on these issues. The project asks what new analytic
terms and frameworks are needed to account for the shifting relations between
religion and the secular? Going beyond tropes of culture wars and clashing civilizations,
what new narratives can and should be told? In short, the conference aims to
stimulate reflection on the shifting historical and contemporary alignments
or divisions between religion and the secular; to facilitate comparative insight
across national cases; and to explore the analytic and normative challenges
that have newly arisen regarding religion, the secular, and democratic public
life.