Synopses & Reviews
In a remarkably short period of time, the realization of religious freedom has achieved broad consensus as an indispensable condition for peace. Faced with widespread reports of religious persecution, public and private actors around the world have responded with laws and policies designed to promote freedom of religion. But what precisely is being promoted? What are the cultural and epistemological assumptions underlying this response, and what forms of politics are enabled in the process?
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
The fruits of the three-year Politics of Religious Freedom research project, the contributions to this volume unsettle the assumptionand#151;ubiquitous in policy circlesand#151;that religious freedom is a singular achievement, an easily understood state of affairs, and that the problem lies in its incomplete accomplishment. Taking a global perspective, the more than two dozen contributors delineate the different conceptions of religious freedom predominant in the world today, as well as their histories and social and political contexts. Together, the contributions make clear that the reasons for persecution are more varied and complex than is widely acknowledged, and that the indiscriminate promotion of a single legal and cultural tool meant to address conflict across a wide variety of cultures can have the perverse effect of exacerbating the problems that plague the communities cited as falling short.
Review
andquot;This rich collection brings together scholars from different fields to dispel simplistic ideas about religious freedom. Through numerous case studies exploring complex and changeable meanings of the term in different parts of the world, the authors show that religious freedom is not the universal standard of democracy its proponents intend for it to be. At the same time, the contributors reach beyond their main topic to demonstrate the importance, and even necessity, of interdisciplinary work. Thus in dispelling simplistic ideas about a supposedly universal norm, this fine book announces a new era of academic collaboration.andquot;
Review
andquot;The principle of religious freedom, central to the liberal politics of the modern world, is increasingly becoming an object of critical reflection. This collection, edited by four distinguished scholars, is a welcome contribution to this important topic. I have learnt something from each of these thoughtful essays. Everyone interested in recent debates on secularism will benefit from reading them.andquot;
Review
andquot;This extraordinary volume brings together the leading scholars of the idea and practice ofand#160; and#39;religious freedomand#39; today, in conversation with each other and with their critics. Beyond any simple for/against dichotomy, the contributors show how the admirable resonance of and#39;religious freedomand#39; masks a more troubling reality, both at the historical origins of the concept and in its contemporary strategic deployments. Among the bookandrsquo;s many contributions is its sustained and careful examination of the mutual entanglement of and#39;religion,and#39; in its modern semantic range, and law, and the implication of both in national and global politics, from early modernity forward. The Politics of Religious Freedom is a definitive collection of the best critical work on the subject.andquot;
Synopsis
The respect for religious difference has formed the bedrock of our nation and made equality possible. Yet today we are told that moral values”code for a government shaped by religious concernsmust be the keystone of our social compact.
A rich and compelling chronicle of an essential idea, Liberty of Conscience tells the story of Americas great tradition of religious freedom. Philosopher Martha Nussbaums ambitious book is both a work of history and a pointed rejoinder to conservative efforts to break down barriers between church and state.
Synopsis
In one of the great triumphs of the colonial and Revolutionary periods, the founders of the future United States overcame religious intolerance in favor of a constitutional order dedicated to fair treatment for people's deeply held conscientious beliefs. It granted equal liberty of conscience to all and took a firm stand against religious establishment. This respect for religious difference, acclaimed scholar Martha Nussbaum writes, formed our democracy. Yet today there are signs that this legacy is misunderstood. The prominence of a particular type of Christianity in our public life suggests the unequal worth of citizens who hold different religious beliefs, or no beliefs. Other people, meanwhile, seek to curtail the influence of religion in public life in a way that is itself unbalanced and unfair. Such partisan efforts, Nussbaum argues, violate the spirit of our Constitution. Liberty of Conscience is a historical and conceptual study of the American tradition of religious freedom. Weaving together political history, philosophical ideas, and key constitutional cases, this is a rich chronicle of an ideal of equality that has always been central to our history but is now in serious danger.
Synopsis
The concept of religious freedom has, in a relatively short time, achieved a remarkably broad consensus that considers it absolutely necessary to the establishment of a peaceful and productive world. and#160;In The Politics of Religious Freedom, editors Sullivan, Hurd, Danchin, and Mahmood marshal more than two dozen distinguished contributors to contest this narrative.and#160; The editors and contributors do not take a position for or against religious freedom as such.and#160; Instead, they argue that the indiscriminate promotion of a singular legal and cultural tool meant to address difference, discrimination, and conflict across a wide variety of societies and cultures has the perverse effect of foreclosing possibilities.and#160; Taking a genuinely global perspective, these essays unsettle the comfortable agreement that religious freedom is a singular achievement, an easily understood state of affairs, and that the problem lies in its incomplete realization.and#160; Instead, they seek to understand the different conceptions of religious freedom at play in the world today.and#160; The Politics of Religious Freedom represents an effort to craft a new view of law and of religion that is appropriately modest and respectful of the gaps in our knowledge of the world; an understanding of law and religion that understands both concepts to be not singular but very strongly plural.
About the Author
Winnifred Fallers Sullivan is professor in and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at Indiana University Bloomington. She is also an affiliated professor of law at Indiana University Bloomington Maurer School of Law.Elizabeth Shakman Hurd is associate professor in the Departments of Political Science and (by courtesy) Religious Studies at Northwestern University.Saba Mahmood is professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley.Peter G. Danchin is professor of law and director of the International and Comparative Law Program at the University of Maryland School of Law.