Religion and Human Security

2007-2009 Grant Sponsored by the Luce Foundation

The Luce Foundation’s Henry R. Luce Initiative on Religion and International Affairs 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.  A publication from the symposium will be coming out soon.