RE641
Religion and Politics in Global Context
0.5 Credit

Hours per week:
  • Lecture/Discussion: 3

Religion and politics have been intertwined since time immemorial, but in the modern West they came increasingly to be seen (both practically and normatively) as separate spheres. This privatization of religion has been progressively challenged in recent decades, the more so as non-Western colonies have achieved independence, the Cold War has ended and been replace by what some see as a clash of religiously-defined civilizations, and globalization has accelerated. The focus of the course is largely contemporary, looking at the role of religion as such, and of particular religions in our globalizing world. The course examines a variety of religions, of regions, of forms of political involvement, and of themes (including religion-state relations around the world; religion, 'fundamentalism', political violence and peacebuilding; religion and international relations; religion and global civil society; religion, political parties and electoral behaviour; religion and international development; religious diversity, immigration and politics; religion and nationalism; religion and democracy).

Additional Course Information
Exclusions
Not available to students holding WLU credit for RE632H.