A talk by Jose Casanova, one of the world’s top scholars in the sociology of religion. The talk will explore, first, the concept of diffused “civil” religion in contradistinction to differentiated “eclesiastical” or “denominational” religion. It will then examine the pattern of congruent relations between “civil” and “denominational” religion in America in comparison to two divergent European patterns: the French laicist oppositional model between civil and Catholic religion and the Nordic secular integrational model between civil and Lutheran religion. Finally, it will examine the conditions under which both “civil” and “denominational” religions in America may turn “uncivil,” ending with some critical reflections about the contemporary culture wars around gender and sexual mores. Jose Casanova is a professor at the Department of Sociology at Georgetown University, and heads the Berkley Center’s Program on Globalization, Religion and the Secular.

Throughout the 2013 Spring term, the IRCPL, in conjunction with the Department of Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center, will present public conversations that explore the often contentious role of religion in American political and public life. Seeking to further understand the relationship between religion and politics in the United States, the series will explore a number of timely topics that intersect with religion, such as civil religion, public discourses of morality, and reproductive and sexual rights. The series marks the launch of a new Religion in America program area at the IRCPL, which will seek to foster inter-disciplinary research, scholarship, and public discussion on the relationship of religion to American politics and society.

Co-Sponsored with the Graduate Center, CUNY, Department of Sociology.