Religion and Human Security

Sponsored by the Luce Foundation

Many of the lectures supported by the Luce Foundation from 2007 - 09 are accessible as podcasts made by UW TV. To connect to podcasts and to see the full range of UW TV presentations please click here and type "religion" in the "Search" box in the upper right-hand corner.

The Luce Foundation’s Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion and International Affairs has awarded the University of Washington's Comparative Religion Program and Center for Global Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies one of its prestigious "Religion and International Affairs" grants. The UW's is one of just a handful of International Schools to receive a grant and the first large grant ($300,000) for a religious studies program.

The UW's proposal on “Religion and Human Security” was based on the observation that religious non-state actors now often compete with states in their impact on human welfare. In some cases, the effect is benign. Religious groups provide essential services that corrupted and undemocratic states are unwilling or unable to provide. In other cases, the effect is detrimental to states’ capacity to exercise their legitimate powers. States, in effect, become hostage to grassroots movements and their priorities. We argue that in the contemporary world, one cannot effectively engage in humanitarian actions unless one understands the role that religious non-state actors provide in supplanting, supplementing, or contesting how states negotiate the welfare of their populations.

This grant underlines how important the role of religion is to global stability and positions the UW as the future authority on Religion and Human Security.

Although the proceedings of the symposium held May 8, 9, 2008 will not be available either in printed or in electronic format, a published volume is being planned. Information on this volume will be posted here as soon as possible but probably not before next year. The symposium that will take place in May 2009 will be open to the public. This web site will have the most up-to-date information.

Latest News

Many of the lectures supported by the Luce Foundation at the  University of Washington are accessible as podcasts made by UW TV. To connect to podcasts and to see the full range of UW TV presentations please click here and type "religion" in the "Search" box in the upper right-hand corner.

CHRISTINE FAIR TO SPEAK MAY 6

Christine Fair will speak on "Pakistani Attitudes Towards Militancy In and Beyond Pakistan" at 7:30 PM on Wednesday, May 6 in Kane 220 as part of the events surrounding the Luce Symposium on Religion and Human Security. For more information, please see the events page.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD TO SPEAK MAY 7

Walter Russell Mead will speak on "After Fukuyama and Huntington: Prospects for American Power" at 7:30 PM on Thursday, May 7 in Kane 220 as part of the events surrounding the Luce Symposium on Religion and Human Security. For more information, please see the events page.

SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPANTS ANNOUNCED

We are pleased to announce the participants for the second year of our Religion and Human Security Symposium.  These scholars will deliver papers at the Symposium on May 6-8, 2009.

Karen Bhangoo, George Mason University: “Religion, Resilience and Relationship: Civil Society in Malerkotla”

Shane Barter, University of British Columbia: “Ulama, The State & War: Islam-State Relations in the Aceh Conflict”

Sara Curran, University of Washington: “Immigration, Religion and Human Security in the US”

Charles McDaniel, Baylor University: "Reinventing the Brotherhood: Unintended Consequences of Egyptian Government Policy-Making and the Transformation of al-Ikhwan al-Muslimun.”

Emily Morrison, University of Washington: "The Religious Case against Reconciliation in North Ireland"

Gladys Ganiel, Trinity College, Ireland: “Religion and Human Security in Zimbabwe”

Lucien Leustean, Aston University, UK: “Religion and Security Behind the Iron Curtain”

Rowena Robinson, Indian Institute Bombay: “Indian Muslim Leadership”

Sayres Rudy, Hampshire College: “Algerian Clients, Polish Workers, and the Flow of Religious Violence"

Somer Murat, Koc University, Istanbul: “Religious Non-State Actors and Secular Democracy: Evidence from Political Islam in Turkey”

James Tiburcio, Ùniversity of Brasilia: “Human Security in Angola: The Role of Religious Non-State Actors”