Religion and Secularism

This course provides students with a map of contemporary approaches to the so-called separation of church and state, or political secularism, and enables them to use the relevant concepts and insights in analyses of societal issues concerning religious diversity.
Political secularism and the secularization narrative are essential parts of conceptions of Western modernity and the self-understanding of many societies. However, by now we know that the assumption that the privatization and decline of religion is an inevitable consequence of ‘modernization’ fails to explain important social developments such as the resurgence and diversification of religious traditions, new forms of religiosities, and the conspicuity of religiously motivated violence across the globe.
A critical understanding of political secularism today, therefore, requires an understanding of the various forms and functions of religion in contemporary pluralistic societies. However, terms such as “secularism”, “secularity”, “secularization,” and even “the post-secular” can be highly confusing. This course will give students the theoretical and empirical knowledge to make sense of these academic debates and contemporary issues regarding the relation between states and religions.
The course explores the concept of political secularism through multidisciplinary readings, especially anthropology, sociology, law, and political philosophy. Theory and concepts concerning political secularism will always be discussed by in depth readings of case studies, for example about native-Americans and religious freedom, Muslim sartorial practices and gender equality in France and Iran, or political secularism in postcolonial nations such as India and South Africa.

Format
Classes will proceed in the form of a research colloquium, i.e. instructors and/or students will introduce readings, which all students are expected to study carefully in preparation of the classes. Much time will be devoted to interactive critical analyses of texts, concepts, and concrete ‘cases’. Students have the opportunity to come in touch with, and possibly be actively involved in research of the instructors. Students will receive detailed feedback on written assignments.