Power, Knowledge and the Religio-Secular

How does thinking in terms of ‘religious’ and ‘secular’ spheres shape our understanding of the political world?

In the academy, a secular epistemology that separates ‘religious’ from ‘secular’ spheres of life, is the unquestioned norm. At the same time, scholars in decolonial, feminist, critical theology and critical religion studies, have highlighted how this framework of knowledge production can marginalise or exclude alternative practices and ways of knowing. Within Europe, secular epistemology has historically contributed to the marginalisation of religious and racial minorities, and continues to do so today (Grosfoguel 2015; Westerduin 2020). Outside of Europe, a secular epistemology has been violently imposed as part of Christian colonial projects (Maldonado-Torres 2009; An 2024) and through modern state formation and the governance of both the human and non-human environment.

In this workshop, we bring together scholars from different disciplines to examine the repercussions of these legacies for our scholarship today. How do secular epistemological and ontological frameworks impact the daily life of religious and ethnic minorities? How is this framework resisted, navigated and co-opted in different global locations? More reflexively, what does this mean for our own positionality and knowledge-making within ‘secular’ universities? In what ways does it privilege the university, and academia more broadly, as the authority and arbiter of knowledge?

Although attention has been paid to (some of) these questions within several disciplines, we believe they cannot be answered within any one discipline alone. To start a cross-disciplinary conversation, we will bring together perspectives from political theology, philosophy, religious studies, history, politics and international relations to examine different dimensions of engaging with knowledge and secularity.

The workshop is organised by Dr Thiu Elias KC and Dr A. Sophie Lauwers, and co-funded by IASH and the Alwaleed Centre. Lunch will be provided.

Schedule

09:40 – 10:00 Registration and coffee

10:00 – 10:10 Opening note

10:10 – 11:00 Dr Maria Birnbaum: The Costs of Recognition: Religion, Legibility, and Global Political Order

11:00 – 11:50 Dr Fatima Z. Naveed: Complicating the Religio-Secular: Blasphemy, Obscenity, and Sedition in Pakistan

11:50 – 12:10 Break

12:10 – 13:00 Dr A. Sophie Lauwers: How (Not) to Make Space for ‘Religion’ in Democratic Debate: the Religio-Secular as Epistemology of Ignorance

13:00 – 14:00 Lunch

14:00 – 14:50 Prof. Emma Wild-Wood: Spiritual Knowledge & Practice in Decolonising One Health

14:50 – 15:40 Dr Thiu Elias: Sharp Boundaries, Lived Worlds: Rendering Knowledge in Indigenous Christian Ecologies

15:40 – 15:50 Break

15:50 – 16:30 Roundtable discussion & closing remarks

Optional: Drinks at Summerhall

This is a free event, which means we overbook to allow for no-shows and to avoid empty seats. While we generally do not have to turn people away, this does mean we cannot guarantee everyone a place. Admission is on a first come, first served basis.

Accessibility:

This event will take place at IASH, 2 Hope Park Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9NW. Please see a map here: https://www.iash.ed.ac.uk/location

The Seminar Room is on the first floor, and unfortunately IASH does not have a lift. If you have mobility issues and would like to discuss access, please contact iash@ed.ac.uk as soon as possible.