The Religionization of Politics

The aim of the course is to look afresh at the contemporary interplay between religion and politics. Not only has religion not been marginalized as theories of secularization would have made us believe in the 70’s, it is making a comeback, even in the Western world. Modernization is going on, but religion is not disappearing. The course will be structured around three main ideas: 

• The polarization of societies. Contemporary societies are crossed by a double dynamic of both weakening and strengthening of religion.
• Religion, culture and society. There is a tendency for contemporary religion to become “de-culturalized” --  and thus more global -- while penetrating society from the “bottom” through various means.
• The religionization of politics. Politics is more permeated with religion than 30 years ago. The reason has to do both with the activism of religious actors and with the temptation of political leaders to use religion as a legitimization tool for political action. The development of religious nationalism in various parts of the world (India, Turkey, Israel, Poland, Pakistan) is the best illustration of this trend.