Governing Religion: Global Challenges and Comparative Approaches

Explore ways of governing religion and religious diversity today

On this course you will consider different models of state-religion relations, reviewing examples from both European and non-European countries.

You will learn how different models have emerged out of historical processes of nation formation (including post-colonial independence, redrawing of state boundaries after a major political transition or through an evolutionary process of institutional and value change).

You will also consider your own experiences, and debate ideal models for governing religion and religious diversity in today’s world.

This course is for undergraduate and graduates studying sociology, political science or anthropology. It might also be useful for civil society activists, journalists and anyone with an interest in religious diversity and the relationship between government and religion.

This course is part of the research project GREASE: Radicalisation Secularism and the Governance of Religious Diversity: Bringing together European and Asian Perspectives funded by the European Commission, Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 770640. The content of this MOOC represents only the views of the GREASE consortium and is its sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

This course is for undergraduate and graduates studying sociology, political science or anthropology. It might also be useful for civil society activists, journalists and anyone with an interest in religious diversity and the relationship between government and religion.

This course is part of the research project GREASE: Radicalisation Secularism and the Governance of Religious Diversity: Bringing together European and Asian Perspectives funded by the European Commission, Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 770640. The content of this MOOC represents only the views of the GREASE consortium and is its sole responsibility. The European Commission does not accept any responsibility for use that may be made of the information it contains.

• Investigate current debates on state-religion relations
• Reflect on different countries and different regimes for governing religious diversity
• Discuss critically the notion of secularism and the idea of a neutral state that governs religion by ‘tolerating’ its presence or indeed by excluding it from the public space
• Assess models in which religion is given a prominent role in the public space and religious diversity is accommodated precisely because religion is seen as an important matter
• Compare the experiences of different countries and identify the ingredients of a religious governance regime that accommodates both believers and non believers and makes room for religious diversity