Secularism and Diversity
The subcommittee on Secularism and Diversity explores the relationships among religious, political, and economic processes. Reflecting upon the links between the global and the local, the subcommittee examines the impact of individual identity on liberal and democratic ideas, and considers how global flows of capital, goods, and people interact with local cultures. The current economic crisis' reshuffling of globalization, and the consequent social and political dislocations, heighten the importance of the issues the subcommittee studies.
By examining the impact of accelerating global movement on secularism, diversity, identity, and religion, the subcommittee raises the following questions: How do people resist or acquiesce to the alteration of their traditions by global influences? If local traditions are maintained, do they continue unaltered, or do they rearticulate themselves within new global dynamics? Do global flows homogenize or diversify the local and national cultures and structures that they encounter? Can local and national strategies be utilized to address problems that have a global profile?
View detailed lists by resource type or link to individual resources below:
Events
- Aijaz Ahmad: Islam, Islamisms and the West in a Global Context
- Charles Taylor: The Politics of Recognition
- Is Marxism Relevant Today?
- Charles Taylor: A Secular Age
- Charles Taylor: What is Enchantment?
- Peculiar, Bracing Cosmopolitanisms among the Colonized in the Twilight of Empire
Videos
- Charles Taylor: The Politics of Recognition
- IGERT - Focus on Randomization, Q&A
- IGERT - Focus on Randomization, Part 4
- IGERT - Focus on Randomization, Part 3
- IGERT - Focus on Randomization, Part 2
- IGERT - Focus on Randomization, Part 1
Organizations
Related Course(s)
Issues of Secularism and Diversity in Global Thought
This course focuses on issues of cultural diversity under conditions of globalization. Weekly topics include secularism in postcolonial contexts, as well as cosmopolitanism, feminism and religion in relation to secularism and “tolerance.” While the emphasis of the course will be on contemporary debates, we will also look at relevant historical genealogies of some of the controversies.