Christ Church, Oxford | 23-24 July 2025
The two-day event explored how religious freedom and church-state conflicts intersect with broader political and cultural divides to generate or amplify social polarization across different nations and regions. Recent years have seen religious liberty disputes in the United States—from pandemic restrictions on worship to conflicts over LGBTQ+ rights—map closely onto existing ideological and partisan divisions, deepening societal fractures. Contributors examined whether and how similar dynamics manifest in European countries, with attention to both parallels with and departures from U.S. patterns.
Participants presented draft articles that analyzed cross-cutting issues or specific national or regional case studies, examining how religious freedom controversies interact with existing social cleavages around issues like secularization, immigration, nationalism, and cultural change. They explored various approaches to managing these tensions, from legal frameworks and institutional designs to civil society initiatives and interfaith dialogue. Participants shared feedback on one another’s research with the goal of generating comparative insights about the relationship between religious liberty disputes and political polarization, while identifying promising strategies for protecting both religious freedom and social cohesion in deeply divided societies. The final articles will be published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Workshop organizers are Elizabeth A. Clark, associate director, International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS), Brigham Young University; Thomas C. Berg, professor of law and public policy, University of St. Thomas School of Law; and Asma T. Uddin, research fellow, Center for the Constitution, Georgetown University.