Anna Triandafyllidou and Tariq Modood (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781474419086
- eISBN:
- 9781474435291
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474419086.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
Religion and religious diversity are one of the toughest diversity challenges that European societies face today. Old paradigms of republicanism or multiculturalism seem to be in crisis but a new ...
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Religion and religious diversity are one of the toughest diversity challenges that European societies face today. Old paradigms of republicanism or multiculturalism seem to be in crisis but a new “third way” between laicité and state religion is not yet visible.
This book questions whether the best way to deal with religious diversity is to equalise upwards or downwards, what are the obstacles to a more egalitarian religious pluralism, and what we can learn from policies and practices in the Middle East and Asia where religious plurality and the integration of religion in the public space is the norm rather than the exception.
The first part of the book discusses the type and degree of secularism that is fit for addressing the challenges of religious diversity that contemporary western societies face at a theoretical or normative level, while its second part engages with the experiences of countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania in their governance and accommodation of diverse religious communities within a single state. These chapters seek to assess whether respect and acceptance of religion as one dimension of public and political life can provide for a more appropriate basis for the governance of religious diversity than European or North American models of moderate or complete separation of church and state.Less
Religion and religious diversity are one of the toughest diversity challenges that European societies face today. Old paradigms of republicanism or multiculturalism seem to be in crisis but a new “third way” between laicité and state religion is not yet visible.
This book questions whether the best way to deal with religious diversity is to equalise upwards or downwards, what are the obstacles to a more egalitarian religious pluralism, and what we can learn from policies and practices in the Middle East and Asia where religious plurality and the integration of religion in the public space is the norm rather than the exception.
The first part of the book discusses the type and degree of secularism that is fit for addressing the challenges of religious diversity that contemporary western societies face at a theoretical or normative level, while its second part engages with the experiences of countries in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania in their governance and accommodation of diverse religious communities within a single state. These chapters seek to assess whether respect and acceptance of religion as one dimension of public and political life can provide for a more appropriate basis for the governance of religious diversity than European or North American models of moderate or complete separation of church and state.
