Department of Political Science, University of Aarhus, 24-25 April 2008
This seminar was organized by Per Mouritsen, Department of Political Science, Aarhus University.
The recent return of religion to social and political significance in Europe has been widely remarked upon. Societies that have viewed themselves as secular and tolerant have been confronted with new issues of freedom of expression and political calls to respect religious practice and belief. Also, new immigration has meant that societies where religious homogeneity – and cultural homogeneity more generally – was previously taken for granted have been faced with increasing diversity. This seminar considered a number of issues of religion, public space and public culture that arise in the context of immigration, with special reference to the ways in which these arise in the context of new immigration in the smaller countries of Europe:
What role may religious arguments and discourse may play in political life? What is the relationship between religion and various theoretical conceptions of public reason?
How do the religious practices of immigrants fit into existing patterns of religious belief and practice, and to what extent there are significant differences in this among countries?
To what extent can we identify distinctive models of responding to religious difference (e.g. secularist, pluralist, confessional) in the smaller countries of Europe? What can be learned by looking at the normative and political disputes over various Muslim religious practices – disputes which exhibit similarities as well as diversities across the political cultures of Europe?
Finally, how does, and how should, religion relate to the public culture of countries?For more information please see the links to the seminar abstracts, papers, and presentations below:
Camil Ungureanu (University College Dublin)
Religion in the Public Sphere: Towards a New Paradigm - abstract - presentation
Ole Wæver (University of Copenhagen)
Secularism and the Securitisation of Islam - abstract - presentation
Sawitri Saharso (University of Twente)
The Islamic Headscarf: A Political Tool in the Battle over Multiculturalism - abstract - presentation
Christian Joppke (American University of Paris)
Mirror of Identity: The Islamic Headscarf in Western Europe - abstract - presentation
Tuula Sakaranaho (University of Helsinki)
Muslims and the Wider Society: Comparing Finland and Ireland - abstract - presentation
Ricard Zapata-Barrero (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)
The reflective logic of Multiculturalism: Muslims and national identity building in Spain - abstract - presentation
Lene Kühle (University of Aarhus)
Incorporation of Islam in Denmark: political imams and the cultural aspects of Islam - abstract - presentation
Veit Bader (Universiteit van Amsterdam)
Priority for Liberal Democracy or Secularism? Why I am Not a Secularist - abstract - presentation
Søren Flinch Midtgaard (University of Aarhus)
Freedom of Expression and the Cartoon Controversy - abstract - presentation
Sune Lægaard (University of Copenhagen)
Normative Implications of Transnationalism - abstract - presentation
Ulf Hedetoft (University of Copenhagen)
Diversity, Cohesion and Public Debates: Denmark’s Migration Regime in Transition?- abstract - presentation
Yngve Lithman (University of Bergen)
Varieties in the Scandinavian Welfare-Assimilation-Integration Regimes - abstract - presentation
Per Mouritsen (University of Aarhus)
Political Responses to Cultural Conflict: Reflections on the Ambiguities of the Civic Turn - abstract - presentation
Arash Abizadeh (McGill University)
On the Demos and its Kin: Nationalisms and Democratic Legitimation - abstract - presentation
Tine Damsholt (University of Copenhagen)
The Sound of Citizenship – Western Citizenship Ceremonies in Comparative Ethnographic Perspective - abstract - presentation
PARTICIPANTS
Arash Abizadeh, McGill University
Veit Bader, University of Amsterdam
Morten Braender, Aarhus University
Sigalit Ben-Zion, University of Bergen
Maire Brophy, University College Dublin
Tine Damsholt, University of Copenhagen
Christina Fiig, University of Aalborg
Julie From, Aarhus University
Dora Kostakopoulou, University of Manchester
Lene Kuhle, Aarhus University
Rasmus Sommer Hansen, Aarhus University
Ulf Hedetoft, University of Copenhagen
David Herbert, Open University UK
Iseult Honohan, University College Dublin
Christian Joppke, American University of Paris
Martin Jørgensen, Aarhus University
Sune Laegaard, University of Copenhagen
Lasse Lindekilde, European University Institute
Yngve Lithman, University of Bergen
Soren Midtgaard, Aarhus University
Per Mouritsen, Aarhus University
Helene Pristed Nielsen, University of Aalborg
Tore Olsen, University of Copenhagen
Kasper Lippert Rasmussen, Aarhus University
Wendy Ross, University College Dublin
Sawitri Saharso, University of Amsterdam
Tuula Sakaranaho, University of Helsinki
Camil Ungureanu, University College Dublin
Ole Wæver, University of Copenhagen
Sarah Valdez, University of Washington
Ricard Zapata-Barrero, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona