Religion, Right and International Relations

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 March 2023) | Viewed by 5513

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Political Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Interests: religion, society and culture; human rights, violence and religion; religion and politics; liberation theology; Latin American politics, democracy and democratization; civil society, cultural change
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

What we think of as religion and rights encompasses ideas, movements, and institutions that transcend national boundaries. The initial spark may originate from one region or country, but diffusion is often swift, regardless of efforts at control or something like an “iron curtain” by states.

In recent experience, religious networks (both official and informal) have inspired and sustained movements for rights and institutions in cases as diverse as Latin America or South Africa, Eastern Europe or Ireland, or the United States. There is a notable diffusion of songs, tropes and techniques of protest. Important areas of research include initiatives at mediation and peace building alongside deliberate incitement to religious conflict. Groups such as Witness for Peace, the Sant’ Aegidio movement and Mennonite initiatives come to mind, as does high-level mediation (such as the intervention of the Vatican in the Beagle Channel dispute).

How all this fits within what we think of as ‘international relations” presents a challenge to contemporary social science. States are often challenged by religious and rights efforts, which can engender conflict with other states. Examples include the longstanding conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, relations between India and Pakistan, and the status of the Irish Republic.

These issues have rarely been addressed in comparative terms. Two recent efforts that do so are Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson, eds. Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft, New York Oxford University Press, 1994, and Atalia Omer, R. Scott Appleby and David Little, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, New York Oxford University Press 2015.

This proposed Special Issue of Religions is distinguished from others in the field by its combined emphasis on religion and rights as they impact the theory and practice of international relations. We invite original submissions on theory, issues, and specific movements, national or transnational, with particular attention to their engagement with states and their impact on inter-state relations. Submissions may be historical or contemporary in focus.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Daniel H. Levine
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • religion
  • politics
  • culture
  • social movements
  • theory and practice Latin America

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 315 KiB  
Article
Religion and Democracy in Argentina Religious Opposition to the Legalization of Abortion
by Marcos Carbonelli and Maria Pilar García Bossio
Religions 2023, 14(5), 563; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050563 - 23 Apr 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2937
Abstract
This article analyzes the ways in which religious actors opposing the legalization of abortion adjusted their arguments and public actions to the Argentine democratic culture between 2018 and 2020. Data were collected through a qualitative research approach by conducting in-depth interviews with activists, [...] Read more.
This article analyzes the ways in which religious actors opposing the legalization of abortion adjusted their arguments and public actions to the Argentine democratic culture between 2018 and 2020. Data were collected through a qualitative research approach by conducting in-depth interviews with activists, studying public position statements in secondary sources, and analyzing pronouncements and interactions on social media platforms. Religious agents conceived of democracy as the rule of the majority that they intended to promote by means of secular arguments, demonstrations in public spaces, and the construction of electoral alternatives. Marginally, the categorization of feminism through conspiracy theories and the use of dilatory legal maneuvers ran counter to the logic of the expansion of rights. According to the empirical evidence gathered, the religious agents showed increasing adjustments to the language and criteria inherent to democratic life. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Right and International Relations)
20 pages, 366 KiB  
Article
The Dispute around Same-Sex Marriage in Costa Rica: Arguments and Actions of Conservative Religious Activism (2017–2021)
by Arantxa León-Carvajal and Andrey Pineda-Sancho
Religions 2023, 14(4), 540; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040540 - 17 Apr 2023
Viewed by 1860
Abstract
This article examines the role assumed by Costa Rican conservative religious activism during the public controversy that arose in the Central American country regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage. This public debate found its highest point during the presidential elections of 2018. The [...] Read more.
This article examines the role assumed by Costa Rican conservative religious activism during the public controversy that arose in the Central American country regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage. This public debate found its highest point during the presidential elections of 2018. The article is divided into two parts. Firstly, it identifies the arguments used by conservative actors during the controversy, with special emphasis on the conceptions of democracy and human rights that informed their political praxis. Secondly, it ponders the significance that the politicization of religion in a conservative direction has had on the dynamics and democratic institutions of contemporary Costa Rica. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Right and International Relations)
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