Section: 15 May | Religion and Society (RL022) [SS 22/23]

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Course summary

The aim of this course is to understand the complex and even contradictory role of religion in the history and present of Central European societies. The primary focus will be on the Czech Republic, but also countries like Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Austria, Germany and the Baltic state of Estonia will be examined under this perspective. Some of these countries like the Czech Republic are very secularized (only about 14 % membership of religious communities), whereas others rather belong to the most religious in Europe (Slovakia). These differences lead to the question whether the role of religion in these countries is also dissimilar or even incomparable, or whether it is possible to define a common denominator for the public function of religion in Central European society.

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Section outline

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- Religion and Violence: How are religion and conflict related in post-communist Central Europe? (Johana)
Required reading: Matjaž Klemenčič, Religious and Ethnic Diversity in the Second Half of the 20th Century: War and Political Changes in the Territories of Former Yugoslavia, in: Ausma Cimdina (ed.), Religion and Political Change in Europe: Past and Present, Pisa: Universita di Pisa, 2003, 195-209
- Religion and Human Rights: What are the reasons for the ambivalent relation between religion and human rights; what are the tendencies in the several post-communist countries? (Eirini)
Required reading: Dorota A. Gozdecka, Religions and legal boundaries of democracy in Europe: European commitment to democratic principles, Helsinki: University of Helsinki (Dissertation), 2009, ch. 5: Freedom of expression versus freedom of religion and discussion of the essence of democracy, 171-202
- Religious Aspects of the War in Ukraine (Marco)
- Select activity Religion and Violence
  
  Religion and Violence File PDF
  
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- Select activity Religion and Human Rights
  
  Religion and Human Rights File