Religion and Humanitarianism in the New Age of Nationalism | Day One
Former assistant secretary of State for Human Rights John Shattuck will be the keynote speaker for this conference which brings together scholars, activists, and clergy from the United States and abroad, including:
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- Bennett Freeman, Former Deputy Asst. Secretary for Human Rights, Former Senior VP for Sustainability Research & Policy, Calvert Investments
- George Rupp, Columbia University & Former President of the IRC
- Adam Chmielewski, Institute of Philosophy, Wroclaw University
- Rev. Prof. Jane Shaw, Dean of Religious Life, Stanford University
- Jodok Troy, Visiting Scholar at The Europe Center, Stanford University
- Samuel Moyn, Yale Law School
- Andras Lazlo Pap, Central European University
- Molly Worthen, University of North Carolina
- Tehila Sasson, Emory University
- John Connelly, University of California, Berkeley
- Olivia Wilkinson, Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities
The questions the conference will address include:
- What has been the role of religion— churches, institutions of civic society, intellectuals—in the creation and political successes of forms of exclusivist nationalist rejection of moral universalism? Two images might be worth unpacking: a crucifix behind a razor wire fence guarding the Hungarian border and devout Poles saying their rosaries in defense of the nation against migrants.
- What is the relationship between established ecclesiastical authority and humanitarianism? What are the internal debates and fracture lines within particular religious communities and especially among the laity on issues like immigration and gender/sexual equality that figure so prominently in thinking about moral universalism.
- What roles can or should important non-religious actors like international business, NGOs, and States play in mitigating the anti-humanitarian impulses of the new religious nationalists and nationalisms.
- What roles can or should various religion-based institutions play in mitigating the anti-humanitarian impulses of the new religious nationalists and nationalisms?
The conference will take place Friday, March 16 and Saturday, March 17, at the Social Science Matrix, 8th Floor, Barrows Hall. We invite those interested in participating to fill out this registration form by Friday, March 9: http://bit.ly/
This conference is organized and co-sponsored by the UC Berkeley Social Science Matrix and the Shared Sacred Sites Project.