Post-secular conditions?
Challenges to citizenship, democracy, law and social cohesion
International and Multidisciplinary PhD. course and Research Seminar, 8 – 10 December 2010
Research School – Welfare State and Diversity
Roskilde University – Aalborg University
Coordinators:
Christel Stormhøj and Anni Greve,
The research group The significance of religion – from global to local.
Department of Society and Globalisation,
Roskilde University
Denmark
Currently, the concepts of secularization and secularism are highly contested in the humanities
and social sciences. Neither the concept of secularization, nor that of de-secularization is able to
cover fully or to address our historical condition in all its dimensions. Moreover, the political
doctrine of secularism, premised on the separation of powers, a separation that carves out a
genuine political space said to be independent of religious norms, is questioned. Worldwide we
are witnessing a resurgence of religion: faith communities and religious movements seem to be
gaining political importance as contributors to the provision of moral, political and legal norms.
Also in Europe, religious revivalism challenges the seemingly secular basis of the nation-states
and their, albeit different, regimes for citizenship, democracy, law and social cohesion.
The three-day PhD course and research seminar at Roskilde University attempt to highlight the
idea of the post-secular and to assess the relationship between religion and politics in European
welfare societies. It addresses new and innovative approaches for theorizing and conceptualizing
secularization, secularism and the post-secular condition. Themes include: (1) Current conflicts
about citizenship and human rights, gender and queer issues, political voice and representation
as a series of mutual engagements of secular and religious discourses and practices. (2) The
modern distinction between religious and secular categories, on the one hand, and theories about
the intertwinement of religion and law on the other. (3) The role of cities as scene for religion as
well as for secularization phenomena. Key questions are:
1. What are the contents, underlying assumptions and implications of the concepts of
secularization and secularism'?
2. How may mediations between religiously and secular rooted values and perspectives be
established in order to achieve a democratic consensus about common values?
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3. Do such mediations require translations of religious vocabularies into a universal
language to achieve democratic legitimacy?
4. How may the concept of ‘rule of law’ be defined in a new globalized and multi-religious
context?
5. How does religion interact with secularization phenomena of the modern great city?
6. What are the mechanisms behind culture trauma and citizens’ attachment to
sanctuaries?
Course format
The three-day event will involve a series of speakers presenting papers and organized into three
thematic sessions
Invited speakers
Veit Bader, Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies (IMES) University of Amsterdam
Kevät Nousiainen, Faculty of Law, University of Turku
Anne Hellum, Department of Public and International Law, University of Oslo
Paul Cloke, Department of Geography, University of Exeter
Christel Stormhøj, Department of Society and Globalisation, Roskilde University
Lisbet Christoffersen, Department of Society and Globalisation, Roskilde University
Anni Greve, Department of Society and Globalisation, Roskilde University
Birte Siim, Department of History, International and Social Studies, Aalborg University
Anders Berg Sørensen, Department of Political Science, Copenhagen University
Connie Carøe Christiansen, Department of Society and Globalisation, Roskilde University
Thematic foci
Religion, citizenship, and democracy
Contemporary European societies are characterized by multi-religiosity and the co-existence of
religious and secular groups and citizens. Secularism, which advocates a separation of politics
and religion with reference to ideals of tolerance, impartiality, universality, liberty, and equality,
has established a common and independent ground for public deliberation and contestation.
Minority and majority religious groupings challenge the separation that constitutes an opposition
between religion (private belief systems) and political citizenship (public domain) as they seek to
influence the foundations of the polity. Increasingly, conflicts between religious and secular
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worldview, values and practices arise, such as conflicts around religious symbols in public
spaces, women’s and gay’s equality rights, the right to free speech and the universality of human
rights. Key themes are: Secular-religious conflicts; possible translations between religious and
secular vocabularies; the relationship between secularism and democracy; and, the development
of new citizenship identities that cut across the religious/secular divide
Religion and law relations
Western law is based on the normative approach of being secular, that is: without any religious
influence. This understanding of law also seems to influence a global concept of ‘the rule of law’.
This theme considers how modern distinctions between religious and secular categories form the
basis of models that regulate law & religion systems in the Nordic countries, in Europe and
worldwide. Recognizing that state-building in post-secular times also have normative
underpinnings opens for a post-secular recognition of possible intertwinements within these
categories with the possible consequence of being able to explore a role of religion in public legal
spheres. There is thus a need of rethinking relations between state and religion to understand the
practical and principal changes within the content of different dimensions of the legal system, and
to reflect on how the concept of ‘rule of law’ might be defined in a new globalized and multireligious context, concepts like ‘(soft) legal pluralism’ comes into the scope here.
Religion and the city
The modern city is the place in which the dynamics of religious attachment are revealed and
expressed with greatest intensity and at the same time the locus for an international culture. How
these two aspects interact is at focus. On the one hand the negative and threatening dimension
of this interrelatedness: Religious fundamentalism as connected to a wider social construction of
faith communities transmitted by trans-national religious networks; locally with the risk of
ghettoization and disengagement, and globally with the risk of terrorism. On the other hand the
positive and enabling dimension of this interrelatedness: Belief, faith and sacredness recognized
as collective phenomena of utmost importance in running also modern societies; in particular to
demonstrate the enduring importance of sanctuaries for coming to terms with modernity. Key
themes are: Large cities as hotspots for split loyalties and demands; culture trauma and citizens
attachment to sanctuaries; memory, desire and the sacred; and, the impact of new places of
worship on the urban space
Target group:
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European PhD. students and other interested researchers within the field of sociology, law,
culture studies, theology, gender studies, urban studies, and moral- and political philosophy
Max 25 participants
Time: 8 – 10 December 2010
Venue: Roskilde University, Universitetsvej 1, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark.
ECTS: Participation in the course: 3 ETCS
Presentation of paper: 2 ETCS (when the paper has been accepted)
Post doc’s and senior reseachers may participate with or without presenting a paper.
Fee: DKK 600, - (around Euro 80, -). The fee covers refreshments, lunch all days and a
conference dinner.
Participants must themselves pay for travel costs, accommodation etc.
Deadlines: Registration and abstract: Not later than 10 November 2010
Paper: Not later than 29 November 2010.
Registration;
http://www.soc.aau.dk/forskerprogram/seminarer-og-kurser/registration/
Participants with paper must send abstract while registration to kbm@socsci.aau.dk
Paper must be send to kbm@socsci.aau.dk
Further information: Anni Greve, anni@ruc.dk or Christel Stormhøj: stormhoj@ruc.dk
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