Religion, Secularization, and the International

For the past several decades (but especially since 2001), internationalists have been increasingly preoccupied by the perceived "return of religion." Religion is often proclaimed to pose the single greatest threat to a liberal legal/political order and, less often, to be the greatest hope for that order. We will explore genealogies of the three key terms at stake in this conundrum – "religion," "secularization," and "the international." We begin from the proposition that none of these terms refer to ahistorical essences, but have been subject to continual theoretical/practical contestation/reconfiguration. We focus on that contestation as it has emerged in "modernity." Enrollment limited to 20 juniors, seniors, and graduate students.