Conference: Diversité et religion – May 23 and 24, 2016, Strasbourg

The conference ‘Diversité et religion : logiques, formes et dynamiques’ (diversity and religion: logics, shapes and dynamics), organized by the UMR DRES – Team ‘Religions et pluralisme’, with the assistance of the chair USIAS, will take place on May 23 and 24 in Strasbourg. During this conference, John Tolan, co-director of the IPRA, will give a lecture entitled ‘Les juifs du roi : protection et exploitation royale des juifs d’Angleterre pendant le règne d’Henri III (1216-72)’, on Tuesday 24th at 2pm.

Summary: The conference ‘Diversité et religion : logiques, formes et dynamiques’ (diversity and religion: logics, shapes and dynamics), organized by the UMR DRES – Team ‘Religions et pluralisme’, with the assistance of the chair USIAS, concludes, without exhausting the subject, a collaborative and interdisciplinary reflexion aiming at re-evaluating the value and the heuristic power of the word ‘diversity’ applied to ancient and contemporary history of religions. The word ‘diversity’ has been used in a number of public, political and scientific debates for the last 50 years, and its lexical size has kept on growing, as well as the academic and social controversies it has stirred.

This conference will explore the following subjects among others:

• the attention paid to political news in scientific debates (and vice-versa),
• the relationships between the different dimensions of diversity (ethnic, cultural, social, religious…),
• the meaning variations that affected the concept depending on the context in which it was used,
• the stakes and definition perimeters of the words ‘diversity’ and ‘diversification’,
• the religious and cultural backgrounds of the historical conditions and ideological canevas of the word ‘diversity’,
• the unity and diversity spotable in the logics and processes of religious diversification,
• the tools and means of measure of religious diversity,
• the great public/political and scientific debates that the word helps to define.

Practical information:

• Date: 23rd and 24th of May 2016
• Place: MISHA (conference room), 5 allée du général Rouvillois, Strasbourg
• Contact : Lionel Obadia (lionel.obadia@univ-lyon2.fr), organizer of the conference
• Languages of the conference : French, English
• Open to everyone
• You will find more information at this address: http://dres.misha.cnrs.fr/spip.php?article436

Program (in French):