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In the 1960s, the strict opposition between the religious and the secular began to break down, blurring the distinction between political philosophy and political theology. This collapse contributed to the decline of modern liberalism, which supported a neutral, value-free space for capitalism. It also deeply unsettled political, religious, and philosophical realms, forced to confront the conceptual stakes of a return to religion.Gamely intervening in a contest that defies simple resolutions, Clayton Crockett conceives of the postmodern convergence of the secular and the religious as a basis f

This article seeks to enrich understandings of civil society in Africa by examining the political activities of Catholic & Presbyterian clergy in Malawi. Although local clergy are well placed to promote citizen empowerment & state responsiveness at the grassroots level, research revealed that clergy in Malawi have been disinclined to engage in activism toward these ends. The article argues that this limited activism can be understood by devoting attention to three factors: the religious frameworks informing clergy; the larger organizational contexts in which they are situated; & their character as members of a distinct class. The focus on these issues illuminates how larger social influences actually constrain the clergy's propensity to engage in civil society activism. This serves as a reminder that the character of civil society will reflect the dynamics of the social setting, often in a way that undermines its democratizing potential. 3 Tables, 4 Figures. Adapted from the source document.

This article seeks to enrich understandings of civil society in Africa by examining the political activities of Catholic & Presbyterian clergy in Malawi. Although local clergy are well placed to promote citizen empowerment & state responsiveness at the grassroots level, research revealed that clergy in Malawi have been disinclined to engage in activism toward these ends. The article argues that this limited activism can be understood by devoting attention to three factors: the religious frameworks informing clergy; the larger organizational contexts in which they are situated; & their character as members of a distinct class. The focus on these issues illuminates how larger social influences actually constrain the clergy's propensity to engage in civil society activism. This serves as a reminder that the character of civil society will reflect the dynamics of the social setting, often in a way that undermines its democratizing potential. 3 Tables, 4 Figures. Adapted from the source document.

The city of Manado and province of North Sulawesi have built a public identity based on religious harmony, claiming to successfully model tolerance and inter-religious relations for the rest of Indonesia. Yet, in discourses and practices relevant to everyday interactions in schools and political debates in the public sphere, two primary contested frames for belonging emerge in tension with one another. On the one hand, "aspirational coexistence" recognizes a common goal of working toward religious harmony and inclusive belonging. On the other hand, "majoritarian coexistence," in which the legitimacy of religious minorities is understood as guaranteed exclusively by the goodwill of the Protestant majority, also emerges in discourses and practices of coexistence. These two agonistic frames of coexistence stem from both a real pride at having staved off ethno-religious violence that plagued surrounding regions at the turn of the twenty-first century, as well as a concern about whether the area will maintain a Christian majority in the future. Based on ethnographic research in Manado, North Sulawesi, a Protestant-majority region of Indonesia, Ethics of Belonging investigates the dynamics of ethical deliberation about religious coexistence. In this analysis, schools are understood as central sites for exchange about the ethics and politics of belonging in the nation. The author draws on in-depth fieldwork at three secondary schools (a public high school, private Catholic boarding school, and public madrasah), an inter-religious "exchange" program among university students, and societal debates about religion and belonging. Each of the schools promotes a distinct method to addressing diversity and a particular understanding of the relationship between religious and civic values. Larson s research demonstrates how ethical frameworks for approaching religious difference are channeled and negotiated through educational institutions, linking up with their broader political context and debates in the community. This resource argues for a consideration of ethical reflection as a fundamentally pedagogical process, with important ramifications beyond the immediate environment. The focus on educational institutions provides a critical connection between interpersonal and public ethical deliberation, elucidating the entanglements of ethics and politics and their manifestation across different societal scales

Karsten Lehmann's contribution to the interdependence between religion & politics for an interdisciplinary discourse addresses important issues from the perspective of religious studies. When looking deeper into the political science debate, one can, however, observe that in the constructivist writings -- only briefly mentioned by Lehmann -- a far more differentiated understanding of religion exists than the one Lehmann postulates for International Relations in general. Therefore, by focusing on these contributions, the first two sections of my response are trying to put the interdisciplinary debate within IR on a more solid foundation. On this basis, & by drawing on Eirgen Habermas, the third section points towards an alternative approach for interdisciplinary discourse. Motivated by analytical & normative interests alike, the remaining sections of my reply attempt to correct secularist shortcomings in the Habermasian sense into the direction of post-secular International Relations. Adapted from the source document.

This study examines the claim that the existence of segment states within a country enhances the likelihood of nation-state crises through an examination of the case of Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) within the People's Republic of China. The central argument I present is that the frequent nation-state crises within Tibet are not sufficiently explained through a focus on the influence of the segment state. This is the case for two reasons. First, the TAR cannot be accurately described as a segment state given significant limitations on the autonomy enjoyed by the Tibetan people within their homeland in terms of politics, religion, education and the economy. Second, rather than the existence of a segment state, international factors appear to play an important role in escalating nation-state crises within the TAR. Adapted from the source document.

Describes the religious & political undercurrents of Scottish football, based on a survey of 443 fans. Significant differences were found in the fans' religious identity: Protestant affiliation was claimed by an overwhelming majority of the fans of Motherwell, Glasgow Rangers, & Kilmarnock; Roman Catholic affiliation was claimed by most Celtic fans. Differences were also found in the fans' political preferences: the Scottish National Party was extraordinarily popular among the fans of Dundee United, Motherwell, & Aberdeen, but weakest among Celtic fans. The role of religion in Scottish society more generally is also considered. 2 Tables, 23 References. Adapted from the source document.

"Im Sommersemester 2004 wurde dem Phänomen 'Zeit und Politik' im Rahmen eines Hauptseminars nachgegangen. Das Seminar hat sich dem Wandel von Zeitkonzepten gewidmet und dabei die Bedeutung von Zeitverknappung für Politik untersucht. Dabei wurden teilweise auch die Alltagsperspektiven von Politikern einbezogen, die, von Medien und Wahlzyklen getrieben, extern gesetzte Agenden abarbeiten, aber oft Mühe haben, anzugeben, worauf sie eigentlich hinarbeiten. Die Ergebnisse dieses Seminars werden hier nun in Form eines Arbeitspapiers vorgelegt. Dabei wird ein breites Spektrum von Zeit-Zugriffen eher aufgeblättert als abgearbeitet. Frühere Zeitverständnisse, etwa das der französischen Historikerschule der Annales, werden mit aktuellen Befunden der Neuro- und Evolutionsbiologie kontrastiert. Das Zeitverständnis von Systemtheoretikern steht neben Zeitüberlegungen von Netzwerk- und Gesellschaftstheoretikern. Schließlich folgen Reflexionen und Beobachtungen zum Hauptthema 'Zeit und Politik', wobei die Medien nicht ausgespart bleiben können." (Textauszug).

The relationship of religion and politics is continuously fascinating and elusive, not least because it is rarely posed in a direct way. In stable democracies, incidents which are rather out of the ordinary, such as publishing the Satanic Verses in the United Kingdom or sporting the Islamic headscarf in a French state school, might push the issue temporarily to the centre of the political arena until the categories of normal politics, such as class, region, language or ethnicity, incorporate it or contrive to edge it beyond public visibility. In developing countries, one is accustomed to the more salient presence of religion in the public sphere: for example, the broad sweep of an Islamic revolution in Iran, popular jihad in the Middle East, the militant Sikhs in the Punjab, or the battle for the birthplace of Rama in North India. However, the intelligentsia in these countries who speak with the authority of modern science and the modern state see these events, important as they are, as the expression of primordial sentiments, and indicative of the underdeveloped nature of the people concerned, rather than as the political expression of unresolved issues, ill concealed by the fabric of normal politics and not articulated by political institutions.