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Public Management of Religious Diversity and Human Rights in Post...
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Public Management of Religious Diversity and Human Rights in Post Secular Societies

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2023) | Viewed by 8086

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Eduardo J. Ruiz Vieytez

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Guest Editor
Human Rights Institute, University of Deusto, Avda universidades 24, 48007 Bilbao, Spain
Interests: human rights; cultural diversity; minorities; minority rights; constitutions
Dr. Rafael Ruiz Andrés

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Applied Sociology, Complutense University of Madrid, Campus de Somosaguas, 28223 Pozuelo, Madrid, Spain
Interests: secularisation; religious pluralism; interreligious and intercultural dialogue; sociology of religions

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to offer a solid legal–political and sociological framework to guide the management of religious diversity in secularised societies that respect human rights. In most countries, majority or dominant religious traditions (vicarious religion, following Grace Davie’s conceptualisation) have had a decisive influence on the way religion interacts with different social and legal–political fields, and particularly with the interpretation and application of human rights both in society and at the different levels of government, from the nation-state level to the local level. The democratic management of religious diversity, based on a pluralist and inclusive approach, requires a post-secular reinterpretation of human rights and their application in such a way that all people can enjoy them equally through their religious or non-religious identity, and not in spite of it.

In this volume, we will analyse all of these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective (particularly legal–political and sociological) and with special attention to the Western context (North America and Europe). In these countries, and although Habermas points out that these are the regions that, having experienced the most intense secularisation, are most prone to a post-secular interpretation, challenges, possibilities, future prospects and threats still coexist, which we will explore in this volume. In light of this discussion, we aim to propose new readings of fundamental rights, which must open the door for an interpretation based on the principle of non-discrimination which avoids indirect discrimination in the enjoyment of rights in culturally diverse societies, from the local to the national level. This reinterpretation, moreover, should not be limited to the scope of certain traditional minorities, but should be valid for the management of all possible religious or spiritual-based identities that coexist in contemporary democratic societies.

In recent decades, the debate on post-secularisation, the leading exponent of which has been Jürgen Habermas (2008) and which has also been addressed by prominent scholars such as Charles Taylor and José Casanova, has occupied a growing space in the academic discussion on religions, and specifically on religions in contemporary secularised societies. The post-secular perspective aims to overcome the binomial approach between religions and secularity, particularly between Christianity and a rigid notion of modernity, in order to propose a new approach (post-secular consciousness) to the myriad of issues and realities that concern the religion–secularity debate, including human rights. In light of this post-secular perspective, different case studies and comparative analyses, particularly focused on the European and North American contexts, have been shaping the academic debate on the subject.

On the basis of this post-secular approach and starting from the historical interaction between religions and human rights, the present volume aims to go beyond the case and comparative studies, without ignoring them, in order to offer a coherent discourse on the equal application of fundamental rights to people with diverse beliefs and religious traditions in secularised and democratic societies. This requires the simultaneous discussion of the set of human rights which include religious-based content or expressions that must be incorporated into the normality of the current public space. Together with the theoretical review, it is intended to provide consistent guidelines for the public management of religious diversity which respect human rights and allow citizens and groups to maintain their religious or spiritually based identity.

Prof. Dr. Eduardo J. Ruiz Vieytez
Dr. Rafael Ruiz Andrés
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • religious diversity
  • human rights
  • fundamental rights
  • freedom of religion
  • right to equality
  • non-discrimination
  • diversity accommodation
  • religious minorities

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 264 KiB  
Article
Religious Diversity, Minorities and Human Rights: Gaps and Overlaps in Legal Protection
by Eduardo Ruiz Vieytez
Religions 2024, 15(1), 87; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010087 - 10 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1499
Abstract
The legal protection of religious diversity is strewn with difficulties and uncertainties. The re-emergence of religiously motivated demands points to the need to better define the relationship between the legal protection of human rights and religious diversity. The current applicable laws and regulations [...] Read more.
The legal protection of religious diversity is strewn with difficulties and uncertainties. The re-emergence of religiously motivated demands points to the need to better define the relationship between the legal protection of human rights and religious diversity. The current applicable laws and regulations come from different historical or national contexts, which presents a confusing landscape that calls for a better definition of the protection afforded by the different rights at stake. This article uses a general normative analysis to propose extending the scope of religious minorities to any religious affiliation that does not represent the majority of the population of a given state. This involves shifting from a paradigm of specific protection for certain minorities to one in which all minorities are protected through the universally recognized rights of freedom of religion and nondiscrimination. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Management of Religious Diversity and Human Rights in Post Secular Societies)
19 pages, 304 KiB  
Article
Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and Anti-Zionism: Discrimination and Political Construction
by Alberto Spektorowski
Religions 2024, 15(1), 74; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010074 - 8 Jan 2024
Viewed by 2225
Abstract
This article argues that from the end of the 19thcentury, the debate about anti-Semitism became a marker for a wider dispute focusing on the meaning of national identity. Integrating the Jews into the polity was part, and even a justification, of the Enlightenment [...] Read more.
This article argues that from the end of the 19thcentury, the debate about anti-Semitism became a marker for a wider dispute focusing on the meaning of national identity. Integrating the Jews into the polity was part, and even a justification, of the Enlightenment political project and of the democratic state. However, while the Jewish question was fundamental for politics and philosophy in the Enlightenment, in our time, as the Enlightenment fades, the Muslim question takes its place. This article argues that the goal of integrating Muslims into the Western democratic polity under a culturally blind, egalitarian and secular type of non-discrimination has proven to be unsuccessful. Moreover, rather than pitting racist nationalists against liberal democrats, it has triggered a “civic confrontation” in liberal political thought, between liberal multiculturalists and supporters of religious freedom who understand, on the one hand, and secular democratic integrationists, on the other. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Management of Religious Diversity and Human Rights in Post Secular Societies)
11 pages, 248 KiB  
Article
Managing Religious Diversity in the Private Sphere in Post-Secular Societies: Lessons from Business and Human Rights
by Jernej Letnar Černič
Religions 2023, 14(12), 1510; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14121510 - 6 Dec 2023
Viewed by 835
Abstract
This article discusses managing religious diversity in post-secular societies by drawing lessons from business and human rights. Managing religious diversity has been traditionally played out in the realms of the state. A state’s primary obligation is to respect and protect religious diversity in [...] Read more.
This article discusses managing religious diversity in post-secular societies by drawing lessons from business and human rights. Managing religious diversity has been traditionally played out in the realms of the state. A state’s primary obligation is to respect and protect religious diversity in its society. This article looks beyond the state by arguing that managing diversity is a two-way street. It submits that business and human rights standards are benchmarks by which state and corporations’ effective management of religious diversity should be measured and supervised. This article argues that business and human rights standards, such as the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, establish the obligations of business and other private actors, such as religious communities, to respect and protect human rights in private relations. Businesses carry negative and positive obligations to employ a human-rights-based approach to managing religious diversity in their business operations. Religious communities, for their part, have to manage religious diversity to the extent their autonomy and self-governance allow for it. Equipped with this knowledge, this article concludes that business and human standards, including the United Nations Guiding Principles, represent the standards that business and religious communities should comply with in managing religious diversity in private relationships. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Management of Religious Diversity and Human Rights in Post Secular Societies)
14 pages, 334 KiB  
Article
Human Rights and Religions: An Overview on a Controversial Relationship
by Rafael Ruiz Andrés
Religions 2023, 14(11), 1343; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111343 - 24 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1242
Abstract
If Human Rights (HR) and religions are controversial concepts on their own, the relationship between the two can be fraught with complexity. However, the interest in jointly exploring the realities that underlie the two categories together has led to a long academic tradition [...] Read more.
If Human Rights (HR) and religions are controversial concepts on their own, the relationship between the two can be fraught with complexity. However, the interest in jointly exploring the realities that underlie the two categories together has led to a long academic tradition of research on the relationship between religions and HR. In this article, based on a review of the state-of-the-art and from a post-secular perspective, we will approach the issue raised from two key points that will be in continuous interaction throughout the text. On the one hand, I will examine the interaction between religions and the polygenesis of HR, a vexed issue that has aroused growing attention in the academic community and that has marked the debate on the polyvalence of fundamental rights. On the other hand, I will analyze the studies that currently attempt to explore the potential contribution of religions to the promotion of HR in the present, but also pointing out the contradictions and ambiguities that arise in this endeavor. These two keys will show us the limits of the relationship between HR and religions, but also the opportunities that the explorations of the common substrate between the two offer cooperation between secular and religious actors in the joint promotion of Human Rights. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Management of Religious Diversity and Human Rights in Post Secular Societies)
14 pages, 321 KiB  
Article
A Post-Secular Approach to Managing Diversity in Liberal Democracies: Exploring the Interplay of Human Rights, Religious Identity, and Inclusive Governance in Western Societies
by Zakaria Sajir
Religions 2023, 14(10), 1325; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14101325 - 22 Oct 2023
Viewed by 1455
Abstract
This article delves into the pressing challenges confronting liberal democracies in Western Europe as they grapple with managing religious diversity, with a specific focus on Muslim minorities. Historically, the secularization paradigm has been at the forefront of managing such diversity; however, its intrinsic [...] Read more.
This article delves into the pressing challenges confronting liberal democracies in Western Europe as they grapple with managing religious diversity, with a specific focus on Muslim minorities. Historically, the secularization paradigm has been at the forefront of managing such diversity; however, its intrinsic limitations become increasingly evident in the context of super-diversity, underscoring the need for a paradigmatic shift toward post-secularization. Central to this discourse are the nuanced concepts of “culturalization of religion” and “religionization of culture”, which illuminate the disparities in treatment between majority and minority religious groups. The article identifies three endogenous limitations intrinsic to liberal democracies: the contested nature of state neutrality vis-à-vis religion and belief, the implementation of this principle through non-neutral judicial tools, and the historically and culturally laden context within which the principle of neutrality is enacted. Drawing on the seminal contributions of Jürgen Habermas to post-secularization theory, the article posits that fostering genuine inclusivity and pluralism in managing religious diversity necessitates a departure from the rigid division between the religious and the secular. Instead, it calls for an acknowledgment of the dialogical relationship between the religious and secular dimensions as they manifest in the public sphere by religious minorities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Public Management of Religious Diversity and Human Rights in Post Secular Societies)
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