Multiple perspectives on the current role of religions in the global political field

Abstract

The current world has become a very fertile field for studying the role of religion in the public space and the impact of its transformations on societies and cultures, showing urgency for updated analysis, especially of the dialectical relationship between religion and the political world. Today, we are witnessing an increasingly rapid increase in the power of religion: churches and new religious movements become politically engaged and begin to exert unprecedented influence on the internal and external policies of the states where they operate, often establishing connections with conservative movements. Several religions and churches, justified by the appreciation of a global missionary project, expand globally, becoming transnational. With these shifts, new political ideas are transported, which further highlight the importance of the relationship between religion, politics and human rights. The dossier seeks to examine the tensions, the discourses employed, the alliances established and the reasons, actions and strategies undertaken for the promotion or consolidation of religious and political positions in the public space of national states in different parts of the world. In these places, the importance of religion in political and social life is undoubted, regardless of religious tradition; the presence and political influences of religious leaders are well known and increasingly visible, as well as the closeness or critical distance they maintain with the power elites, sometimes openly supporting or challenging them.