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"Religionspolitik."
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Islam after communism : religion and politics in Central Asia
Adeeb Khalid combines insights from the study of both Islam and Soviet history in this sophisticated analysis of the ways that Muslim societies in Central Asia have been transformed by the Soviet presence in the region. Arguing that the utopian Bolshevik project of remaking the world featured a sustained assault on Islam that destroyed patterns of Islamic learning and thoroughly de-Islamized public life, Khalid demonstrates that Islam became synonymous with tradition and was subordinated to powerful ethnonational identities that crystallized during the Soviet period. He shows how this legacy endures today and how, for the vast majority of the population, a return to Islam means the recovery of traditions destroyed under Communism.
Book
The power of religion
This paper studies to what extent religion has been used to legitimize political power throughout the world and how this matters for current institutions. Historically, some rulers have used religion to legitimize their power, while others relied on more democratic means. This tendency, termed divine legitimization, incentivized rulers to embed religion into institutions. We illustrate within a simple framework that the use of religion to legitimize power and the consequent institutionalization of religion may help explain why religion and religious institutions have persisted despite modernization. To test empirically, we combine data on pre-modern religious beliefs across 1265 ethnographic societies, various geographic data, and current data on the prevalence of religious laws in 176 countries. We provide evidence in support of divine legitimization and the resulting institutionalization of religion. For identification, we exploit exogenous variation in the incentives to employ religion for power purposes. We further document that countries that relied on divine legitimization are more autocratic today and their populace more religious. These results contribute to our understanding of the persistence of religious as well as autocratic institutions.
Journal Article
VEILING
Veiling among Muslim women is modeled as a commitment mechanism that limits temptation to deviate from religious norms of behavior. The analysis suggests that veiling is a strategy for integration, enabling women to take up outside economic opportunities while preserving their reputation within the community. This accounts for puzzling features of the new veiling movement since the 1970s. Veiling also has surprising effects on the intergenerational transmission of values. Compulsory veiling laws can lead to a decline in religiosity. Bans on veiling can inhibit social integration and increase religiosity.
Journal Article
Icons Axed, Freedoms Lost
In Icons Axed, Freedoms Lost , Vyacheslav Karpov and Rachel L. Schroeder demonstrate how Russia went from persecuting believers to jailing critics of religion and why, in contrast, religious pluralism and tolerance have solidified in Ukraine. Offering a richly documented history of cultural and political struggles that surrounded desecularization—the resurgence of religion’s societal role—from the end of the USSR to the Russo-Ukrainian war, they show Russian critics of desecularization adhered to artistic provocations, from axing icons to “punk-prayers” in cathedrals, and how Orthodox activists, in turn, responded by vandalizing controversial exhibits and calling on the state to crush “the enemies of the Church.” Putin’s solidifying tyranny heard their calls and criminalized insults to religious feelings. Meanwhile, Ukraine adhered to its pluralistic legacies. Its churches refused to engage in Russian-style culture wars, sticking instead to forgiveness and forbearance. Icons Axed, Freedoms Lost offers original theoretical and methodological perspectives on desecularization applicable far beyond the cases of Russia and Ukraine.
eBook
Which Countries Have State Religions?
Among 188 countries, 72 had no state religion in 2000,1970, and 1900; 58 had a state religion throughout; and 58 had 1 or 2 transitions. We use a Hotelling spatial competition model to analyze the likelihood that the religion market would be monopolized. Similar forces influence a government's decision to establish a state religion. Consistent with the model, the probability of state religion in 1970 and 2000 is increasing with the adherence rate to the main religion, has a nonlinear relation with population, and has little relation with per capita GDP. The probability of state religion decreases sharply under Communism, but lagged Communism has only a weak effect. With costly adjustment for institutions, the probability of state religion in 1970 or 2000 depends substantially on the status in 1900. This persistence is much stronger for countries with no major regime change than for countries with such a change.
Journal Article
Gus Dur’s Enduring Legacy: Accruing Religious Merit in the Afterlife
Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur), Indonesia’s fourth president (1999–2001) and leader of the traditionalist Islamic organisation Nahdlatul Ulama (1984–1999), continues to influence Indonesia in positive and meaningful ways despite his death in 2009. He proved that Islam and a pluralistic political culture were compatible and that Indonesian Islam had a global role. His legacy continues through the Wahid Foundation, Nahdlatul Ulama, and the National Awakening Party. The Wahid Foundation operates under the directorship of his daughter, Yenny Wahid, and is dedicated to improving Islam and Indonesian society through documenting religious intolerance and injustice and by issuing recommendations. Following Nahdlatul Ulama’s National Congress in December 2021, its leadership has been dominated by Gus Dur’s allies, including his wife and four daughters, and his former presidential spokesperson Yahya Cholil Staquf, all of whom have a deep commitment to his values. Gus Dur’s former political party, the National Awakening Party, remains another institution which supports pluralism and secular inclusiveness. However, the relationship between Gus Dur’s allies and this party remains fractured, just as it was before he died. Despite an impeached presidency, a fallout with the National Awakening Party, and the considerable time that has passed since his death, he has produced an enduring legacy. Public deference to the late Gus Dur is reminiscent of the nine saints who Islamised Java half a millennia ago. This is because traditionalist Muslims believe that one’s deeds which produce on-going benefits to society will, in the afterlife, continue to accrue religious merit, and millions visit Gus Dur’s grave every year to demonstrate this.
Journal Article
Conversion and the politics of religion in early modern germany
The Protestant and Catholic Reformations thrust the nature of conversion into the center of debate and politicking over religion as authorities and subjects imbued religious confession with novel meanings during the early modern era. The volume offers insights into the historicity of the very concept of \"conversion.\" One widely accepted modern notion of the phenomenon simply expresses denominational change. Yet this concept had no bearing at the outset of the Reformation. Instead, a variety of processes, such as the consolidation of territories along confessional lines, attempts to ensure civic concord, and diplomatic quarrels helped to usher in new ideas about the nature of religious boundaries and, therefore, conversion. However conceptualized, religious change- conversion-had deep social and political implications for early modern German states and societies.
eBook
The Pancasila Ideological Direction Bill (RUU‐HIP): A Missed Opportunity?
Indonesia faces a number of acute developmental challenges, hence, there is a need for evidence-based policies to address a range of socio-political issues. This article examines the rise and fall of an ill-fated bill introduced into parliament in 2020 (the “RUU-HIP”) which sought to reshape the nation’s understanding of the state philosophy, Pancasila, while promoting “policy based on national science and technology.” The article argues that Pancasila, which mandates “Belief in the One and Only God” as its first tenet, has a number of unintended and damaging consequences; it limits freedom of religion and thought; bolsters the position of powerful mainstream religious organisations; contributes to extremist, marginalising religious stances; and acts as a potent and pervasive barrier to innovation at all levels of social and political life. As a lens through which to view Indonesia’s national ideology, the article examines the RUU-HIP and takes account of the historical roots of the state ideology and the pivotal role of its main progenitor, Soekarno. It examines some of the deleterious effects of Pancasila outlined above and concludes that the first sila, along with a controversial Blasphemy Law, ought to be amended and repealed respectively, to allow for greater freedom of religion and thought. The article concludes that while amending Pancasila may, contrary to prevailing legal thought, be theoretically possible, in the current socio-political climate this would be unthinkable for most Indonesians.
Journal Article
Beyond Scandal: Creating a Culture of Accountability in the Catholic Church
Like many corporations, the Catholic Church in the United States and Ireland has tried to move beyond scandal. In this case, the scandal was the failure of church leaders to protect minors from clergy sexual abuse, particularly in Boston and Dublin. Like corporate leaders, church leaders have faced the challenge of restoring trust after scandal. Influenced by corporate trends toward codes of conduct, the archdioceses of both Boston and Dublin provide codes of conduct, but the differences between them are worth noting. In 2015, the Catholic Church in both the United States and Ireland highlighted the need for a culture of accountability that does not succumb to complacency, and in the United States the bishops have once again been encouraged to learn from business. This paper will demonstrate that the Catholic Church is in dialogue with and learns from codes of conduct and cultural practices in business. At the same time, it will highlight that the Catholic Church must also be attentive to its own mission since a simple adoption of other corporations' practices can be detrimental to sharing the Gospel. The appropriation of codes of conduct and cultural practices from business reflects the church's attentiveness to the signs of the times, and this appropriation needs to be evaluated in the light of the church's mission to share the Gospel with the world.
Journal Article