Religious Norms in Public Sphere (RPS) Network: launching meeting Florence, Italy-December 10th-12th, 2009

iGov-Institutions and Governance program at UC Berkeley’s Institute of International Studies with the Berkeley School of Law launch under the supervision of Prof. Olivier Roy of the Mediterranean Program of Robert Schuman Center for advanced studies (RSCAS), an international, interdisciplinary network of scholars exploring the issue of religious norms in the public sphere (RPS).

From the Danish cartoon controversy to the debates over school prayer in American schools, the question of how secular democratic societies should accommodate religion, particularly in the public sphere, is a pressing one. All too often discussion of this issue degenerates into polemics which pigeonhole people of faith either as democracy’s foe or its victim. The goal of the RPS international network of scholars is to move beyond polemics and to analyze this “return to the sacred” i.e. the call by people of faith to recognition and/or enforcement of religious norms by governments, legislatures, schools

A launching meeting will take place in Florence where the participants will design the blueprint of the network and establish its first research priorities.. Further information is available here. Draft program available.

This event is co-sponsored by the Carnegie Foundation, the Partner University Fund (PUF) and the Mediterranean Program of Robert Schuman Center for advanced studies (RSCAS).