Religious freedom and religious minorities

Abstract

This panel is about religious minorities facing issues of religious freedom. It will deal with the impact of policy measures on the rights of religious minorities, in different legal contexts. The first axis will discuss how religious minorities are particularly affected under specific situations or policies measures. In political regimes where all religions are equal under the law, it may be worth looking if the same goes under emergency time. A fruitful case study is the Covid-19 pandemic, which has had a significant impact on the exercise of religious freedom across Europe. Whether and to what extent the covid-19 emergency has affected the status of religious minorities are to be found. Indeed, it could be stated that the pandemic has enhanced inequalities and conflicts among pluralist societies. How to understand the variety of those impacts? Is it just due to the minority condition? Papers may take a look at how restrictions on religious freedom happen to exacerbate the already fragile balance between religious majorities and minorities, which are experiencing forms of social, political and economic marginalization. In Western legal systems, the restrictive measures of the collective exercise of religious freedom of religious groups, which were previously disadvantaged by the pre-existing regulatory framework, because public authorities were initially more inclined to meet the needs of mainstream religions. Also, some practices and rites of minorities have suffered a worse impact as they could not take advantage of alternative means of worshipping. A particular attention could also be paid to another factor accounting for these various impacts: the political/ideological one. Are these restrictions seen as opportunities to take down on religious minorities? Have they something to do with wider anti-democratic and anti-pluralist trends, aiming at quenching religious minorities? The second axis will discuss the way religious minorities respond to these emergency situations. Do they abide by restrictions, or do they organize to get it over with? Indeed, religious minorities may opt for various strategies to cope with restrictions. In some cases, they can try to ally in, in order to present a common front and lead common talks with public institutions. This axis also aims at taking a step back and answer some questions: Do some religious minorities favor the same pattern across time and space? Are those patterns new or are they in line with pre-existing repertoires of actions to deal with perceived restrictions and/or discriminations? Another factor is worth investigating: the level of religiosity, as orthodox trends may have a more hardline approach to these restrictions. Finally, it would also be interesting to see how different religious minorities react to restrictions, compared with mainstream religions. To go even further and take a problem-solving approach, this panel is set to examine the development of new narratives, and workable anti-discrimination policies that can be implemented nationally and supranationally to safeguard and promote the status of religious minorities, to balance religious claims with public health, safety and stability, to promote cooperation with religious communities in the pursuit of shared goals.

Title	Details
Layering Informal Institutions: The Case of Religious Minority Holidays in Turkey	View Paper Details
Religious freedom in France: Be between the devil and the deep blue sea?	View Paper Details
Beyond religious rights: confronting legal minoritization & structural religious inequality	View Paper Details
Paths of Legitimation – New Religious Movements in Israel	View Paper Details
The impact of COVID-19 on religious minorities	View Paper Details