Posts Tagged ‘democratization’

April 20th, 2012

Varieties of religious freedom and governance

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As Elizabeth Shakman Hurd’s and Saba Mahmood’s earlier contributions to this discussion remind us, the received wisdom in Western policy circles today emphasizes the necessary synergy between democracy and religious freedom. What I wish to suggest in my remarks here is not that this characterization is wrong, but that it is sociologically too simple, and that the oversimplification can result in ill-conceived prescriptions for pluralist religious freedom.

April 13th, 2012

Change over time: A conversation with Robert W. Hefner

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In this installment of the Rites and Responsibilities dialogue series, I met with the Boston University anthropologist and scholar of Islam Robert W. Hefner. A world renowned expert on Muslim culture, politics, and education in Southeast Asia and beyond, Hefner is the author or co-editor of more than a dozen books, including Civil Islam: Muslims and Democratization in Indonesia and Shari‘a Politics: Law and Society in the Modern World.

April 10th, 2012

Democracy, diplomacy, and religious freedom

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Over at Foreign Affairs, Andrew Preston has written an article exploring the paradox of religion in U.S. foreign policy.