WUNRN
"Religion
Revisited - Women’s rights and the political instrumentalisation of
religion"
The
Heinrich Böll Foundation, jointly with the United Nations Research Institute
for Social Development (UNRISD), organized the international conference
"Religion Revisited - Women’s rights and the political instrumentalisation
of religion" in Berlin on 5 and 6 June 2009. Scholars and feminist
activists discussed the question of how to deal with religions in the fight for
women’s rights and gender equality.
Background
The prediction that secularism would sweep the world has been confounded in
recent years as religion has left the place assigned to it (by theories of
modernity) in the private sphere and thrust itself into the public arena. What
are the social and political implications of religion assuming such prominent and
contested public and political roles? Some observers, including many feminists,
see incompatibilities between democracy, human rights and gender equality, on
the one hand, and a world in which religious issues and organizations have an
active presence in public affairs, on the other. Others, however, argue that
religion (at its best) can act as a significant counterweight to the otherwise
hegemonic institutions of the state and the market, revitalizing public debate
on their moral underpinnings and their social outcomes. The task of research,
therefore, is to develop analytical and normative criteria to differentiate
between the various forms of public religion and their social and political
consequences, including the implications for gender equality.
Key Research Questions of the Project
It has been argued that religion can “go public” at three different levels: the
state level (e.g. theocratic states; or state religions or state-established
churches); at the level of political society (e.g. European Christian
Democrats, Islamist political parties); and at the more amorphous level of
civil society. This tripartite model, however, presupposes what is broadly
recognized as a modern society. But in many contexts it is equally important to
conceptualize the interface between what can be labelled “the customary sphere”
and formal religion. As far as women’s rights are concerned, it is in that
nexus that many of the dangers and challenges lie, with religious precepts
being selectively applied or totally disregarded. Similarly, there is a need
for a broader conception of civil society, which can include the nature of
“society” itself. This is very important because it can explain resistance, or
absence of pressures, from below to pluralize and democratize religion.
This project raises two sets of questions:
Based on comparative historical analysis (of mainly European and American
experiences), it has been hypothesized that only public religions at the level
of civil society are consistent with modern universalistic principles and
modern differentiated structures. How well can this hypothesis hold for other
contexts? Can this hypothesis be substantiated as far as gender equality is
concerned?
Research is carried out in 11 countries – Chile, India, Iran, Israel, Mexico,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Serbia, Turkey and the United States – that present
maximum variation with respect to (i) religious denominations and (ii) the level
at which the blending of politics and religion takes place (e.g., state or
civil society). Furthermore, a regional balance has been sought, including at
least some developed countries. In terms of religion, the world’s three largest
denominations (Christianity, Islam and Hinduism) have been included, as has
Judaism. The research process started at the end of 2007 and will be finalized
in June 2009.
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