Religious Freedom, European Politics and Reflections on the EU as a Global Actor

This paper presents findings from 30 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with political and religious representatives at the EU level, with a view to discussing how they conceptualize the intersection between religion and global politics in the fragile times of Second Modernity (Ul. Beck), where all human institutions are in the midst of a great social transformation. Special attention is paid to the dialectical relationship between religion and human rights, in the context of the increasing interdependence of the modern world which further underlines the importance of religion in the study of world politics. The qualitative research was particularly addressed to: 1) EU political representatives (MEPs, EU officials, foreign-policy practitioners, policy advisors in human rights, external affairs, security and defense), 2) EU representation offices of religious organizations that work in close cooperation with the policy-makers, providing expertise and advocacy on core EU policies, and 3) representatives of non-governmental European organizations active in the social policy and social justice field. The PhD research study aims to illuminate the interviewees’ conceptions on the debate about the “resurgence” of religion in the international scene and to explore whether revisiting the global religion-politics dynamics may influence our understanding of the relevant issues, including the way we approach the discourse on religious freedom at the EU level. The research also attempts to identify their views on how the advancement of religious freedom may affect the EU’s external policies, its relationship with third countries and its position as a global actor. This paper is under publication at Vol. 12 (2021) of the Annual Review of the Sociology of Religion on "Religious Freedom: Social-Scientific Approaches”, edited by Olga Breskaya, Roger Finke and Giuseppe Giordan.