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
Religious Freedom, Pluralism, and Secularisms (Delhi, January 5-7, 2009)
Overview
This is the third 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 conference in Delhi will focus on issues of religious freedom and pluralism
in relation to the varying models of secularism and the secular state. What
model of religious pluralism dominates in these countries, and how has it changed
over time? How do these states, operating within different models/histories
of secularism, promote, impede, constrain, or even prohibit the free exercise
of religion in civil society? How are globalizing developments (such as transnational
migration; global discourses of human rights; responses to proselytization and
conversion; distinctions between “good” and “bad” religion)
influencing these dynamics? What are the normative implications for how we think
or rethink the religion/secular distinction? Do ideas and enactments of the
“postsecular” offer promising alternatives to the current ways of
mapping the religion/secular boundary in democratic societies? The project and
this conference seek to provide the space for fresh thinking and a global perspective
on these issues.