
Politicized Religion and the Reframing of Fundamental Rights
Oxford University Press
Published on 21. April 2026
Book
Hardback
288 pages
978-0-19-288803-7 (ISBN)
Description
Politicized Religion and the Reframing of Fundamental Rights provides a systematic account of how recent politicization of religion has been used by proponents of illiberal nationalism and populism to reframe constitutional and human rights in exclusionary anti-pluralist ways. This reframing enhances the rights of those who belong to the majority religion or are steeped in its culture, at the expense of the rights of women, sexual minorities, and adherents to minority religions.
The book is composed of two parts. Part I draws on history as well as political and constitutional theory to examine the ideal of 'institutional secularism' as an areligious means to safeguard pluralism by separating the state from religion. Illiberal nationalists and populists attack institutional secularism as anti-religious and tend to equate it with 'ideological secularism', a conception of the good that rejects transcendence.
Part II deploys comparative constitutional analysis to understand the ways in which fundamental rights have been illiberally reframed throughout a wide array of jurisdictions ranging from Europe to Russia, the United States, India, Turkey, and several African states. Special emphasis is also placed on the increasing role of transnational NGOs in spreading and coordinating such illiberal reframing.
Through these combined approaches it becomes clear that the politicization of religion undertaken by contemporary nationalists and populists differs significantly from previous attempts to inject more religion into the affairs of the state, most notably in its new appropriation of the language of constitutional rights. Nevertheless, the book argues that pluralism can still be safeguarded through a renewed recourse to institutional secularism or by insistence on the staunch protection of ideological secularism to match its religions counterparts.
The book is composed of two parts. Part I draws on history as well as political and constitutional theory to examine the ideal of 'institutional secularism' as an areligious means to safeguard pluralism by separating the state from religion. Illiberal nationalists and populists attack institutional secularism as anti-religious and tend to equate it with 'ideological secularism', a conception of the good that rejects transcendence.
Part II deploys comparative constitutional analysis to understand the ways in which fundamental rights have been illiberally reframed throughout a wide array of jurisdictions ranging from Europe to Russia, the United States, India, Turkey, and several African states. Special emphasis is also placed on the increasing role of transnational NGOs in spreading and coordinating such illiberal reframing.
Through these combined approaches it becomes clear that the politicization of religion undertaken by contemporary nationalists and populists differs significantly from previous attempts to inject more religion into the affairs of the state, most notably in its new appropriation of the language of constitutional rights. Nevertheless, the book argues that pluralism can still be safeguarded through a renewed recourse to institutional secularism or by insistence on the staunch protection of ideological secularism to match its religions counterparts.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
585 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-288803-7 (9780192888037)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Susanna Mancini holds the Chair of Comparative Constitutional Law at the University of Bologna. She has held several visiting professorship positions, and has lectured extensively throughout the world. She has published numerous books and articles exploring issues of law and religion, reproductive rights, feminism and cultural pluralism, minority rights, and secession. Her most recent book is Constitutions and Religion (Elgar, 2020).
Michel Rosenfeld is the University Professor of Law and Comparative Democracy, and Justice Sydney L. Robins Professor of Human Rights, at the Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. He has lectured extensively throughout the world and was president of the International Association of Constitutional Law (1999-2004) and founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Constitutional Law (2001-2014). He has published numerous books and articles and has been translated into a dozen languages. His most recent book is A Pluralist Theory of Constitutional Justice (OUP 2022). He has received many awards, including the French Legion of Honor in 2004.
Michel Rosenfeld is the University Professor of Law and Comparative Democracy, and Justice Sydney L. Robins Professor of Human Rights, at the Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University. He has lectured extensively throughout the world and was president of the International Association of Constitutional Law (1999-2004) and founding editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Constitutional Law (2001-2014). He has published numerous books and articles and has been translated into a dozen languages. His most recent book is A Pluralist Theory of Constitutional Justice (OUP 2022). He has received many awards, including the French Legion of Honor in 2004.
Author
Full Professor of Comparative Public Law, Department of Legal StudiesFull Professor of Comparative Public Law, Department of Legal Studies, University of Bologna
University Professor of Law and Comparative Democracy, Justice Sydney L. Robins Professor of Human RightsUniversity Professor of Law and Comparative Democracy, Justice Sydney L. Robins Professor of Human Rights, Cardozo School of Law, Yeshiva University
Content
Part I. The Theoretical, Historical, and Constitutional Context 1: Overcoming the Wars of Religion: The Enlightenment and the Constitutional Enshrinement of Institutional Secularism 2: Repoliticized Religion and the Dialectic Between Religious Appropriation of Politics and Political Appropriation of Religion 3: Religious Nationalism and Religious Populism: Religious Rule of the Nation and the People Versus National and Popular Acculturation of Religion 4: The Dynamic Between Institutional and Ideological Secularism and Its Uses in Anti-Secular Attacks in the Name of Religion Part II. Applications: Illiberal and Anti-Pluralist Recasting of Fundamental Constitutional and Human Rights in the Name of Religion 5: Secularism as Religious Majoritarianism 6: The War on "Gender Ideology" 7: Reinventing Traditions to Subvert Constitutional Law and the International Human Rights Regime