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The (re)construction and formatting of religions in the West through courts, social practices, public discourse and transnational institutions - ReligioWest • European University Institute
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Research project

ReligioWest - The (re)construction and formatting of religions in the West through courts, social practices, public discourse and transnational institutions - ReligioWest

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This project is funded by the European Research Council (ERC)

RRELIGIOWEST was funded by the European Research Council under the European Union’s 7th Framework Contract Ideas

How are Europe and North America redefining their relationship with religions, when challenged by increasing activism of new movements and of Islam? 

The aim of this project was to study how courts, publics and states institutions in Europe and North America redefine their relationship to religions in the context of a vibrant manifestation of religious expressions in the public sphere. 

The project analysed how religions re-format themselves, under pressure to adapt to secularism. They may try either to ’reconquer’ the lost space (lobbying parliaments to pass or cancel specific laws), or to translate their norms into socially acceptable values (’life’, ‘natural law’, ’ethics’), or to ask for ‘religious exemptions’, thus acknowledging their minority status.