In this seminar, we examine the multifaceted interaction between religion and politics from a global perspective. Three questions will structure our readings and discussions. How do transnational institutions and foreign actors shape states’ regulation of religion? How does globalization, whether in the form of diaspora networks, emerging nationalist movements, or technological innovation, change forms of religious belonging? And what is the role of religious values and actors in globalized politics, such as social protest movements, environmental politics, responses to the refugee crisis, and the global rise of populism? While the relationship between religion and politics in Europe is historically inseparably linked to the establishment of the sovereign state system, we critically examine the transformations this relationship is undergoing in the post-national era. Moreover, we contrast European trajectories with transformations taking place outside the West. Informed by theoretical debates from the fields of sociology of religion, cultural sociology, and international political sociology, the seminar focuses on case studies from Western and Central Europe, the United States, Asia, and North Africa.
- Lehrende/r: Lisa Harms