Shifting Boundaries Between the Religious and the Secular: Religious Organizations in Global Public Space
In: Journal of Religion in EuropeSearch for other papers by Karsten Lehmann in
Current site
Google Scholar
The aim of the article is to add a religious studies perspective to the recent debates on the establishment of religion in public space. In light of this background, it highlights the global dimension of the corresponding processes by analyzing the early developments of religious non-governmental organizations formally accredited to the United Nations organization (UN). Based upon three case analyses—the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Pax Romana, and the Friends World Committee for Consultation—the article presents a two-fold argument. On the one hand, it makes the point that these organizations started out to approach the UN context in quite distinct ways drawing upon core ideas of their respective tradition in order to frame their activities. On the other hand, they adapted to the structures of the UN in order to act efficiently. This triggered shifts in the internal boundaries between the religious and the secular.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Altermatt Urs, & de Franch Ramon Sugranyes, Pax Romana 1921–1981, Gründung und Entwicklung, (Fribourg, Switzerland: Universitätsverlag, 1981).
-
Baha’i International Community, accessed 9 January 2013, http://www.bic.org/.
-
Bellah Robert N., “Can We Imagine a Global Civil Religion?” McDonald Lecture, Center for the Study of Law and Religion, 26 October 2007, accessed 2 June 2012, http://cslr.law.emory.edu/fileadmin/media/PDFs/Lectures/Bellah.Alonzo_McDonald_Lecture.Can_We_Imagine_a_Global_Civil_Religion.pdf, 8–9.
-
Bent Ans J. van der, Christian Response in a World of Crises: A Brief History of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1986).
-
Berger Julia, “Religious Nongovernmental Organizations: An Exploratory Analysis,” International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations 14 (2003), 15–39.
-
Beyer Peter, Religions in Global Society (London & New York: Taylor and Francis, 2006).
-
Blake Eugene Carson, “Introduction [to a special issue on twenty years of CCIA],” Ecumenical Review 19 (1967), 117–120.
-
Blin François, Repères pour l’histoire de la Conférence internationale des Organisations Internationales Catholiques (1927–2008) (Geneva: Editions Eclectica, 2010).
-
Boli John, & Brewington David V., , “Religious Organizations,” in: Beyer Peter, & Beaman Lori (eds.), Religion Globalization and Culture, (Leiden & Boston: Brill, 2007), 203–231.
-
Boli John, & Thomas George M., “World Culture in the World Polity: A Century of International Non-Governmental O rganization,” American Sociological Review 62 (1997), 171–190.
-
Böllmann Friederike, Organisation und Legitimation der Interessen von Religionsgemeinschaften in der europäischen politischen Öffentlichkeit, Eine quantitativ-qualitative Analyse der Europäisierung als Lernprozess in Religionsorganisationen (Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2010).
-
Byrd Robert O., Quaker Ways in Foreign Policy (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1960).
-
Carrette Jeremy, , “The Paradox of Globalization: Quakers, Religious NGOs and the United Nations,” in: Hefner Robert W., , Hutchinson John, , Mels Sara, , & Timmerman Christiane (eds.), Religions in Movement: The Local and the Global in Modern Religion’s Revival (London: Taylor & Francis Group, forthcoming 2013).
-
Casanova José, Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1994).
-
—— “Religion, the New Millennium and Globalization,” Sociology of Religion 62 (2001), 415–441.
-
—— “Public Religions Revisited,” in: de Vries Hent (ed.), Religion Beyond a Concept (New York: Fordham University Press, 2008), 101–119.
-
—— “A Secular Age: Dawn or Twilight?,” Warner Michael, , Antwerpen Jonathan van, , & Calhoun Craig J. (eds.), Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2010), 265–281.
-
—— “Cosmopolitanism, the Clash of Civilizations and Multiple Modernities,” Current Sociology 59 (2011), 252–267.
-
Contenders Ministries, accessed 9 January 2013, http://www.contenderministries.org/.
-
Cortright David, Peace, A History of Movements and Ideas (Cambridge, New York, &Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2008).
-
Dandelion Pink, An Introduction to Quakerism (Cambridge, New York, & Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
-
Dembinski Ludwik, , “The General Secretary ‘Who Came in from the Cold’…,” in: Trisconi Michela (ed.), Mémoires Engagées, 76e –50e Anniversaire Pax Romana ICMICA/MIIC, (Fribourg Switzerland: Pax Romana, 1997), 89–97.
-
Emmerij Louis, , Jolly Richard, , & Weiss Thomas G., Ahead of the Curve? UN Ideas and Global Challenges (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2001).
-
Epps Dwain, “The Last Seven Years,” in: N. A., Report of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs 1970–1973 (Geneva & New York: World Council of Churches, 1973), 34–37.
-
Fitzgerald Timothy, Religion and Politics in International Relations: The Modern Myth (London, New Delhi & New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011).
-
Franch Ramon Sugranyes de, Die internationalen katholischen Organisationen (Aschaffenburg: Christiana Verlag, 1972).
-
Gosewinkel Dieter, , Rucht Dieter, , van den Daele Wolfgange, , & Kocka Jürgen (eds.), Zivilgesellschaft, national und transnational (Berlin: Edition Sigma, 2004).
-
Hadley Herbert M., Quakers Worldwide: A History of FWCC (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1991).
-
Hanson Eric O., Religion and Politics in the International System Today (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006).
-
Haynes Jeffrey, Introduction to International Relations and Religion (Harlow, London, & New York: Pearson Education, 2007).
-
Herbert David, Religion and Civil Society: Rethinking Public Religion in the Contemporary World (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2003).
-
John Birch Society, accessed 9 January 2013, http://www.jbs.org/.
-
Jolly Richard, , Emmerij Louis, , & Weiss Thomas G., UN Ideas that Changed the World (Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2009).
-
Juergensmeyer Mark (ed.), Religion in Global Civil Society: (Oxford Oxford University Press, 2005).
-
Kennedy Paul, The Parliament of Man, The United Nations and the Quest for World Parliament (New York: Northwestern University Press, 2006).
-
Kennedy Thomas C., British Quakerism: 1860–1920 (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2001).
-
Kippenberg Hans G., , “Die Entsäkularisierung des Nahostkonflikts, Von einem Konflikt zwischen Staaten zu einem Konflikt zwischen Religionsgemeinschaften,” in: Joas Hans, & Wiegandt Klaus (eds.), Säkularisierung und die Weltreligionen (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, 2007), 465–507.
-
—— “Religiöse Gemeinschaftlichkeit im Zeitalter der Globalisierung,” in: Hoff Gregor M. (ed.) Weltordnungen (Innsbruck & Wien: Universitätsverlag, 2009), 193–221.
-
—— “Searching for the Link Between Religion and Violence: A Theory of Social Action,” Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 22 (2010), 97–115.
-
Korey William, NGOs and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: A Curious Grapevine (New York & Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan, 1998).
-
Koshy Ninian, Churches in the World of Nations: International Politics and the Mission and the Ministry of the Churches (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1994).
-
Lehmann Karsten, “Interdependenzen zwischen Religionsgemeinschaften und internationaler Politik, Religionswissenschaftliche Anmerkungen zu politikwissenschaftlichen Religionskonzeptionen,” Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen 17 (2010), 75–99.
-
—— “Zur Etablierung von Religionen im Kontext der Vereinten Nationen, Ein Überblick,” Religion – Staat – Gesellschaft 11 (2010), 33–52.
-
—— “Vielfalt religiöser Traditionen und Organisationen in der internationalen Politik, Eine Replik auf Claudia Baumgart-Ochse und Mariano Barbato,” Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen 18 (2011), 139–154.
-
Leibfried Stefan, & Zürn Michael (eds.), Transformations of the State? (Cambridge, New York, & Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2005).
-
Maritain Jacques, The Rights of Man and Natural Law (London: Gordian Press 1954 [1943]).
-
Martens Kerstin, “NGOs in the United Nations System: Evaluating Theoretical Approaches,” Journal of International Development 18 (2006), 391–407.
-
Martin David, , “The Religious and the Political,” in: Barker Eileen (ed.), The Centrality of Religion in Social Life: Essays in Honour of James A. Beckford, (Farnham & Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, 2008), 161–174.
-
—— Has Secularization Gone into Reverse? (Floriana: DISCERN Publications 2009).
-
Melady Thomas Patrick, The Ambassador’s Story: The United States and the Vatican in World Affairs (Huntington: Indiana University Press, 1994).
-
—— Faith Family, Friends: A Few Glances at the Life of Thomas Patrick Melady Diplomat, Educator, Soldier (Danbury: Routledge Books, 2003).
-
Mendieta Eduardo, & Antwerpen Jonathan van (eds.), The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).
-
N. A., “Memorandum on International Centers,” Friends World News 20 (1946), 6–7.
-
—— “Charter of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs,” in: N. A., Report of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs 1946–1947 (London & New York: 1947), 8–10.
-
—— The Commission of the Churches on International Affairs 1947–1948 (London & New York: 1948).
-
—— “Carl Heath, Apostle of Reconciliation,” The Friend 108 (1950), 163–168.
-
Nolde O. Frederick, , “Ecumenical Action in International Affairs,” in: Fey Harold C. (ed.), A History of the Ecumenical Movement: 1948–1968, vol. 2 (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1970), 261–285.
-
Nurser John, For All Peoples and All Nations: Christian Churches and Human Rights (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2005).
-
Nye Joseph S., Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: PublicAffairs, 2004).
-
O’Dea Thomas, “Dilemmas of Institutionalization,” Sociological Analysis 47 (1987), 302–318.
-
Opitz Peter J., Die Vereinten Nationen, Geschichte, Struktur, Perspektiven (München: Fink, 2002).
-
Petersen Marie Juul, “International Religious NGOs at the United Nations: A Study of a Group of Religious Organizations,” Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (2010), accessed 2 January 2012, http://sites.tufts.edu/jha/archives/847.
-
Putnam Robert D., & Campbell David E., American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us (New York, London, & Toronto: Simon and Schuster, 2010).
-
Schaefer Catherine, “Historique de la Declaration,” Pax Roman 12 (1958), 3–12.
-
Schaffer Leslie D., “Quakerism and World Unity,” The Friend 105 (1947), 401–404.
-
Scheuner Ulrich, “The Ecumenical Debate on Violence and Violent Social Change,” Ecumenical Review 23 (1971), 237–252.
-
Schneuwly Abbé J., “Notre Billet Religieux,” Pax Romana 1 (1947), 2.
-
Smith Jonathan Z., Relating Religion: Essays in the Study of Religion (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 2004).
-
Snyder Jack (ed.), Religion and International Relations Theory (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).
-
Taylor Mark C. (ed.), Critical Terms for Religious Studies (Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 1998).
-
Toft Monica D., , Philpott Daniel, , & Shah Timothy S., God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics (New York & London: W. W. Norton, 2011).
-
Trisconi Michela (ed.), Mémoires Engagées, 76e –50e Anniversaire Pax Romana ICMICA / MIIC, Fribourg, Switzerland: Pax Romana 1997).
-
Visser ‘t Hooft, Willem A. & Charles W. Ranson, “Introduction,” The Ecumenical Review 8 (1956), 361–363.
-
Weck Guillaume de, Pax Romana 1887–1921–1946, Histoire de la Confédération Internationale des Étudiants Catholiques (Fribourg, Switzerland: Pax Romana 1946).
-
Wood J. Duncan, “The Religious Basis of Quaker Work at the United Nations: A Shortened Version of a Paper to the FWCC Consultation on Quaker Work at the UN, London, 28–30 May 1974,” Friends World News 103 (1974), 564–565.
-
World Federalist Movement, accessed 9 January 2013, http://www.wfm-igp.org.
-
Yarrow C. H. Mike, Quaker Experiences in International Conciliation (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1978).
-
2)
José Casanova, Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago & London: Chicago University Press, 1994), 225.
-
3)
José Casanova, “Religion, the New Millennium and Globalization,” Sociology of Religion 62 (2001), 415–441; José Casanova, “A Secular Age: Dawn or Twilight?,” Michael Warner, Jonathan van Antwerpen, & Craig J. Calhoun (eds.), Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age (Harvard: Harvard University Press, 2010), 265–281.
-
6)
José Casanova, “Cosmopolitanism, the Clash of Civilizations and Multiple Modernities,” Current Sociology 59 (2011), 252–267; Eduardo Mendieta & Jonathan van Antwerpen (eds.), The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).
-
7)
Timothy Fitzgerald, Religion and Politics in International Relations: The Modern Myth (London, New Delhi, & New York: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2011); David Martin, “The Religious and the Political,” in: Eileen Barker (ed.), The Centrality of Religion in Social Life: Essays in Honour of James A. Beckford (Farnham & Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, 2008), 161–174; David Martin, Has Secularization Gone into Reverse? (Floriana: DISCERN Publications 2009); Hans G. Kippenberg, “Searching for the Link Between Religion and Violence: A Theory of Social Action,” Method and Theory in the Study of Religion 22 (2010), 97–115.
-
8)
Eric O. Hanson, Religion and Politics in the International System Today (Cambridge & New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006); Jeffrey Haynes, Introduction to International Relations and Religion (Harlow, London, & New York: Pearson Education, 2007).
-
9)
Peter J. Opitz, Die Vereinten Nationen, Geschichte, Struktur, Perspektiven (München: Fink, 2002), 27–31.
-
10)
David Cortright, Peace: A History of Movements and Ideas (Cambridge, New York, & Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2008).
-
18)
Joseph S. Nye, Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics (New York: PublicAffairs, 2004).
-
19)
David Herbert, Religion and Civil Society: Rethinking Public Religion in the Contemporary World (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2003); Mark Juergensmeyer (ed.), Religion in Global Civil Society (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005); Robert N. Bellah, “Can We Imagine a Global Civil Religion?” McDonald Lecture, Center for the Study of Law and Religion, 26 October 2007, accessed 2 June 2012, http://cslr.law.emory.edu/fileadmin/media/PDFs/Lectures/Bellah.Alonzo_McDonald_Lecture.Can_We_Imagine_a_Global_Civil_Religion.pdf, 8–9.
-
23)
Peter Beyer, Religions in Global Society (London & New York: Taylor and Francis, 2006).
-
29)
Jack Snyder (ed.), Religion and International Relations Theory (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).
-
30)
Thomas O’Dea, “Dilemmas of Institutionalization,” Sociological Analysis 47 (1987), 302–318.
-
31)
Friederike Böllmann, Organisation und Legitimation der Interessen von Religionsgemeinschaften in der europäischen politischen Öffentlichkeit, Eine quantitativ-qualitative Analyse der Europäisierung als Lernprozess in Religionsorganisationen (Würzburg: Ergon Verlag, 2010); Kerstin Martens, “NGOs in the United Nations System, Evaluating Theoretical Approaches,” Journal of International Development 18 (2006), 391–407.
-
33)
Ans J. van der Bent, Christian Response in a World of Crises: A Brief History of the WCC’s Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1986); Ninian Koshy, Churches in the World of Nations: International Politics and the Mission and the Ministry of the Churches (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1994).
-
35)
John Nurser, For All Peoples and All Nations: Christian Churches and Human Rights (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 2005).
-
38)
Eugene Carson Blake, “Introduction [to a special issue on 20 years of CCIA],” Ecumenical Review 19 (1967), 117–120, here 119.
-
40)
Ulrich Scheuner, “The Ecumenical Debate on Violence and Violent Social Change,” Ecumenical Review 23 (1971), 237–252, here 237.
-
42)
Ramon Sugranyes de Franch, Die internationalen katholischen Organisationen (Aschaffenburg: Christiana Verlag, 1972).
-
44)
François Blin, Repères pour l’histoire de la Conférence internationale des Organisations Internationales Catholiques (1927–2008) (Geneva: Edition Eclectica, 2010).
-
48)
Thomas Patrick Melady, Faith, Family, Friends: A Few Glances at the Life of Thomas Patrick Melady Diplomat, Educator, Soldier (Danbury: Routledge Books, 2003); Thomas Patrick Melady, The Ambassador’s Story: The United States and the Vatican in World Affairs (Huntington: Indiana University Press, 1994).
-
50)
Pink Dandelion, An Introduction to Quakerism (Cambridge, New York, & Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 2007).
-
51)
Thomas C. Kennedy, British Quakerism: 1860–1920 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001).
-
52)
N. A., “Carl Heath, Apostle of Reconciliation,” The Friend 108 (1950), 163–168, here 165–166.
-
53)
C. H. Mike Yarrow, Quaker Experiences in International Conciliation (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 1978); Robert O. Byrd, Quaker Ways in Foreign Policy (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1960).
-
54)
N. A., “Memorandum on International Centers,” Friends World News 20 (1946), 6–7.
-
56)
Leslie D. Schaffer, “Quakerism and World Unity,” The Friend 105 (1947), 401–404, here 402.
-
57)
J. Duncan Wood, “The Religious Basis of Quaker Work at the United Nations: A Shortened Version of a Paper to the FWCC Consultation on Quaker Work at the UN, London, 28–30 May 1974,” Friends World News 103 (1974), 564–565, here 564.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 303 | 86 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 137 | 7 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 60 | 8 | 0 |
Shifting Boundaries Between the Religious and the Secular: Religious Organizations in Global Public Space
In: Journal of Religion in EuropeSearch for other papers by Karsten Lehmann in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
The aim of the article is to add a religious studies perspective to the recent debates on the establishment of religion in public space. In light of this background, it highlights the global dimension of the corresponding processes by analyzing the early developments of religious non-governmental organizations formally accredited to the United Nations organization (UN). Based upon three case analyses—the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, Pax Romana, and the Friends World Committee for Consultation—the article presents a two-fold argument. On the one hand, it makes the point that these organizations started out to approach the UN context in quite distinct ways drawing upon core ideas of their respective tradition in order to frame their activities. On the other hand, they adapted to the structures of the UN in order to act efficiently. This triggered shifts in the internal boundaries between the religious and the secular.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 303 | 86 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 137 | 7 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 60 | 8 | 0 |