JPR364Y1Y L0101
Religion and Politics
Themes
This course will engage with contemporary debates on religion and politics in our post-9/11 world, and will do so comparatively across a wide range of contexts around the globe. The emphasis will be on understanding the evolving relationship between religion and politics in liberal democracies, and examining challenges facing democratic politics from the religious sphere, both in the West, where secular liberalism is the dominant framework for discussing these questions, and in Latin America, Africa, India, and the Middle East, where such a framework is more likely to be contested. The themes we will explore include secularization, religious pluralism and tolerance, human rights regimes, the idea of "civil religion," the impact of religion on party politics, the formation of identity and political community, the legal regulation of sometimes-competing claims based on religious faith, gender, and sexuality, and the rise of transnational religious networks and advocacy -- evangelical Christianity and radical Islam in particular.
Format and Requirements
Two hours of class per week in one 2 hour slot. Requirements include: Two reading assignments of 500 words; two essays of 3000-3500 words; one December exam; one final test.
Prerequisites
1.0 POL credit or 1.5 FCEs in Religious Studies