Call for Papers: African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies 2015 (original) (raw)
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2015
The Second Conference on Law and Religion in Africa was held at Stellenbosch University (South Africa) from 26 to 28 May 2014. Some 60 scholars, legal professionals, and religious leaders from 15 countries particpated in this conference, focusing on the theme "Law and Religion in Africa: The Quest for the Common Good in Pluralistic Societies." Essays in this collection address: (1) Philosophy, Law, and Religion, (2) Church and State in South Africa, (3) Islam and Law in Sub-Saharan Africa, (4) Marriage, Education, and Employment, and (5) Religion, State, and Society. The volume will also feature essays by retired South African Constitutional Court Justice Albie Sachs and current Chief Justice of the South African Constitutional Court Mogoeng wa Mogoeng. The discussion of the relationship between law and religion, as seen from a variety of perspectives in Africa, underscores the critical importance of the issues involved in the everyday life of all citizens. It is accordingly vital for governments to take note of the scholarly results that are produced. We hope that this volume will contribute to this aim.
This symposium issue will collect papers from conference on Law and Religion in Africa: Comparative Practices, Experiences, and Prospects was held 14-15 January 2013 at the University of Ghana in Legon, Ghana. Scholars, legal professionals, and religious leaders from Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierre Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and the United States gathered in Legon for the two-day event. Following a set of plenary lectures, six panels contained papers on Religion and Constitutionalism, Indigenous Religions, Religion-State Relations, Religion-State Tensions, Politics and Pluralism, and State Responses to Religious Minorities.
2008
The Center for the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR) at the Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, GA, USA, under the auspices of a project titled "Law, Religion, and Human Rights in International Perspective," funded by the Henry Luce Foundation, convened a conference on "Law, Religion and Human Rights in Africa" in Durban, South Africa from 30 April 30 to 3 May, 2008. Participants in the conference included thirteen leading religious liberty scholars and activists from nine African countries. The Durban Conference was designed to discover common ground in perceptions and practices pertinent to the relationship between church and state and the interaction of religion and law in countries of the world, but perhaps more importantly, to uncover areas relating to religious human rights that are distinctive to Africa and the developing world. The countries singled out for country-specific analyses were carefully selected with a view to their potential for serving as representative samples of the conference themes. For thematic and conceptual, as well a budgetary, reasons the inquiry focused on sub-Saharan African states. These included Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Each one of these countries represented a distinct dimension of the relationship between church and state and the interaction of religion and law.
Africa continues to be a region with strong commitments to religious freedom and religious pluralism. These, however, are rarely mere facts on the ground – they are legal, political, social, and theological projects that require considerable effort to realise. This volume – compiling the proceedings of the third annual conference of the African Consortium for Law and Religion Studies – focuses on various issues which vastly effect the understanding of religious pluralism in Africa. These include, amongst others, religious freedom as a human right, the importance of managing religious pluralism, and the permissibility of religious practice and observance in South African public schools.
This symposium issue represents the outcome of a major conference with a score of leading religious liberty scholars, advocates, judges, NGO heads, and media personnel from various parts of Africa. The conference situated and complicated the discourse on religion, culture, and human rights in Africa. It became quite clear that -- beyond the conventional issues of religion-state relations, freedom of conscience and expression, religious group rights, and the like -- African nations face formidable issues of religion and human rights in a number of specific subject areas, including: proselytism, apostasy and blasphemy; citizenship/residency/cultural identity; education and charity; violence, warfare, refugees, and genocide; political participation and access; property rights for individuals (especially women and religious minorities); religious dress and ornamentation; concerns about sects and new religious movements; sex, marriage, and family; children and their exploitation and protection; environmental concerns; humanitarianism; private and public health, especially with AIDS and other epidemics.
Religion, Law and Security in Africa
Religion, Law and Security in Africa, 2018
The author holds the chair for Canon Law, especially Theological Principles of Canon Law, General Norms, Constitutional Law and Eastern Canon Law, at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (Klaus Mörsdorf Institute of Canon Law). He further holds academic degrees in secular law, philosophy and Catholic theology. Translation by Fr. Augustinus Fries.
A shared interest of law and religion is the advancement of human flourishing, yet there is no common understanding of what it means for humans to flourish and the means by which to attain a flourishing life. The concept of human flourishing is especially important for Africa, where community and national development compete with forces of conflict and scarce resources. In the broadest sense, the concept of human flourishing focuses our attention on having a comprehensively good or worthwhile life, but various religious and legal traditions suggest different norms for measuring the quality of life and designing the institutional structures that could best facilitate and preserve it.