Interplay of religion, politics features in Amman lecture

(MENAFN- Jordan Times) AMMAN — The public revival of religion and its social role across the world has challenged convictions on modern political forms, according to an Italian political scientist.

Speaking during a lecture titled 'Is Democracy Secular?' at Columbia Global Centres on Wednesday, Andrea Cassatella, a visiting research fellow added that this revival has raised questions on how to respond to the cultural and religious diversity of the world.

The process of democratisation had 'a few waves' following World War II — in the 1960s in Africa, in the 1970s in Asia and the Pacific, in the 1980s in South America, in the 1990s in the former Eastern Bloc and in the new millennium in the Arab world, noted the scholar. 

'Is it desirable for democracy to be secular?' asked Cassatella.

Secularism, he said, is a model of governance premised on a separation between religion and politics in the public sphere.

'We live in a post-secular world that is witnessing the 'return of religion' in the Middle East, Europe, the US and Latin America' he said. 

Globalisation is a continuation of Eurocentric notions about politics, secularism and religion, according to Cassatella.

'If we think about democracy through its value of freedom and equality: Does more democracy mean more equality?' he asked.

From Aristotle (384BC-322BC) to Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778), political theorists have tried to reconcile freedom and equality, Cassatella noted, adding that ancient times witnessed monarchic, plutocratic and tyrannical forms of democracy while modern times have seen the emergence of constitutional democracy, representative parliamentary democracy, liberal democracy and social democracy.

Democracy, he said, 'is beyond secularism and opens ways for religious inclusion in state affairs'.

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