Religion in the Clash Between the Modern State World Order and the Postmodern Stateless Global Order

Dear Colleagues,

Although some of the most important modern European nations were born well before 1789, the modern concept of Nation is nonetheless a product of the French Revolution. Indeed, it realizes the very idea of Revolution as a radical and irreversible emancipation from the idea of the social order (that is, the moral, political, juridical, and economic order) as a reflection, albeit always imperfect and perfectible, of the divine order (that is, the definitive crossing of the “threshold of modernity”) (Del Noce 2017, Eisenstadt 2000). However, the relationship between political–social modernization and religion has proved ambiguous: on the one hand, religion has usually been considered by the dominant historical forces of modernization as an obstacle to the implementation of their programs; on the other hand, these forces have always known that religion can also be a powerful resource to be controlled and used in a functional way for the implementation of their programs. After the substantial failure of the first post-1989/1991 globalization process and agenda (Orr 2007, Sheetz 2024), in the last decade we have witnessed an update, an evolution of the clash between the modern world order based on democratic nation states and the stateless postmodern global (or post-national) order (Gallino 2012, 2013, Lasch 1994). Statelessness is not characterized by the lack of a state bureaucratic apparatus but by the gradual deconstruction, until its substantial dismantling, of a national identity founded on a set of cultural, civil, and moral values, which are themselves often rooted in a specific theological matrix or religious framework.

Attention is easily focused on the possibility that religion is conceived and used by the opposing forces in this conflict as a resource to counter their adversary and better achieve their own agenda.

The aim of this Special Issue is to study, from a sociological and philosophical–political perspective, the dynamics that are triggered in the mutual relations between the religious and political fields, which are directly or indirectly attributable to the clash between the historical forces committed to implementing a post-national (or global) agenda and those committed to reaffirming the national sovereignties and the identities of peoples.

Original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Subjective attitudes and official institutional positions towards the various issues that articulate the permanent state of emergency (climate, energy, finance, food, health, migration, war…);
• Religious freedom, religion/politics and State/Church relations;
• Public discourse on ethically and politically sensitive issues;
• Ecumenism and interreligious dialog;
• Relationships between individual religious and political orientation.

We hope that this Special Issue will stimulate new research in the relationships between the great international political dialectic and the religious field, both at the institutional and individual level.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it either to the Guest Editor of Religions or to Dr. Ana Vujković Šakanović, Assistant Editor of Religions, at vujkovic.sakanovic@mdpi.com. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References

Eisenstadt Shmuel N. 2000. Multiple Modernities. Daedalus Winter 129: 1–29.

Del Noce Augusto. 2017 [1970]. The Age of Secularization. Edited and translated by Carlo Lancellotti. Toronto: McGill.

Gallino Luciano. 2013. Il colpo di stato di banche e governi. L’attacco alla democrazia europea [The coup of banks and governments. The attack on European democracy]. Torino: Einaudi.

Gallino Luciano. 2012. La lotta di classe dopo la lotta di classe [Class struggle after class struggle]. Interview by Paola Borgna. Bari: Laterza.

Lasch Christopher. 1994. The Revolt of Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company.

Orr Martin. 2007. The Failure of Neoliberal Globalization and the End of Empire: Neoliberalism, Imperialism, and the Rise of the Anti-Globalization Movement. International Review of Modern Sociology Vol. 33 Special Issue: 105–122.

Sheetz Mark S. 2024. The Decline and Fall of Globalization. Economic Diplomacy Jan 1: 12–23.

Dr. Roberto Scalon
Guest Editor

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• elite
• globalism
• identity
• nation
• neoliberalism
• peoples
• religion(s)
• religiosity
• religious freedom
• sovereignty