01/07/2026 17:20
- 18:20
HALL: Pola - AT14
Contact:
Driessen M.
Chair:
Appleby S.
authorAMC:
Wilson E.
Speaker:
Bettiza G.,
Mandaville P.,
Stoeckl K.
This Author Meets Critics panel invites three established scholars of religion and global politics to engage with Erin Wilson's recently published book, Religion and World Politics: Connecting Theory with Practice (Routledge, 2023). Religion and World Politics aims to reframe the way scholars ask questions about the role of religion in world politics today. Designed for practitioners, policymakers, and newcomers to the topic of religion and global politics, the book emphasizes that religion is not something clear, identifiable, and definable, but is fluid and shifting. Consequently, we need analytical frameworks that help make sense of this ever-changing phenomenon. The book presents a critical, intersectional framework for analyzing religion and applies this to case studies of three core areas of international relations (IR) analysis: (1) conflict, violence, and security; (2) development and humanitarianism; and (3) human rights, law, and public life. These cases highlight how assumptions about what religion is and does affect policymakers, theorists, and activists. The book demonstrates the damage that has been done through policies and programs based on unquestioned assumptions and the possibilities and insights to be gained by incorporating the critical study of religion into research, policymaking, and practice.
