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20 - Secularism

from Part II - Modalities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2025

By
Cécile Laborde
Edited by
Richard Bellamy  and
Jeff King
Richard Bellamy
Affiliation:
University College London
Jeff King
Affiliation:
University College London
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Summary

The chapter articulates a political theory of secularism that can be defended against common, legitimate criticisms of existing forms of secularism. What I call minimal secularism is not vulnerable to the claim that secularism is hostile to religion, marked by an ethnocentric legacy of church-state separation, or committed to a Christian, and specifically Protestant, conception of religion. In addition, it is more structured and precise than liberal philosophies advocating state ‘neutrality’ towards the plurality of conceptions of the good life. Minimal secularism is a thin, yet attractive, transnational ideal for progressive politics.

Keywords

secularismchurch-state separationliberalismreligionstate neutralityethnocentrismcomparative constitutionalismtransnational constitutionalism
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory , pp. 333 - 342
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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References

Recommended Reading

Asad, T. (2012). Thinking about Religious Belief and Politics. In Orsi, R., ed., Cambridge Companion to Religious Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 36–57.Google Scholar
Bhargava, R., ed. (1998). Secularism and its Critics, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Eisgruber, C. & Sager, L. (2007). Religious Freedom and the Constitution, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutmann, A. (2010). Religion and State in the United States: A Defense of Two-Way Protection. In Rosenblum, N., ed., Obligations of Citizenship and the Demands of Faith. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp. 127–164.Google Scholar
Hirschl, Ran, 2010, Constitutional Theocracy, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laborde, C. (2008). Critical Republicanism. The Hijab Controversy and Political Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laborde, C. (2017a). Liberalism’s Religion, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leiter, B. (2013). Why Tolerate Religion?, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Maclure, J., Taylor, C. (2011). Secularism and Freedom of Conscience, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mahmood, S. (2005). Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject, Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Taylor, C. (2017). A Secular Age, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar

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  • Secularism
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.023
Available formats
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  • Secularism
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.023
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Secularism
  • Edited by Richard Bellamy, University College London, Jeff King, University College London
  • Book: The Cambridge Handbook of Constitutional Theory
  • Online publication: 27 March 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108868143.023
Available formats
×