Religious Freedom and the Religionization of World Politics: Views of EU Political and Religious Representatives
This chapter presents findings from 30 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with political and religious representatives at the European Union (EU) level to discuss how they conceptualize the intersection between religion and global politics, in an attempt to explore the role the religious factor ca...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2021
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| In: |
Annual review of the sociology of religion
Year: 2021, Volume: 12, Pages: 271-298 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This chapter presents findings from 30 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with political and religious representatives at the European Union (EU) level to discuss how they conceptualize the intersection between religion and global politics, in an attempt to explore the role the religious factor can play as a soft-power agent in foreign policy-making, diplomacy, and conflict resolution at the international level. Special attention is paid to the dialectical relationship between religion and human rights, in the context of the increasing interdependence of the modern world, which further underlines the importance of religion in the study of world politics. The qualitative research was particularly addressed to: 1) EU political representatives (meps, EU officials, policy advisors in the fields of human rights, external affairs, security, and defense), 2) EU representation offices of religious organizations that work in close cooperation with the policy-makers, providing expertise and advocacy on core EU policies, and 3) representatives of non-governmental European organizations active in social justice, sustainable development, mediation and peacebuilding processes. The focus of the research questions was to illuminate their conceptions on the debate about the "resurgence" of religion in the international arena, its dynamics as a peacekeeping or war-triggering component, and the way the engagement with the religious factor is mirrored in EU policy-making. The questions also attempted to identify the interviewees’ views regarding the way the advancement of religious freedom may affect the EU’s relationship with third countries and its position as a global actor. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Annual review of the sociology of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/9789004468085_014 |