T Sealy
Biographic Data
| ID | 46288 |
|---|---|
| NAME | T Sealy |
| GIVEN NAMES | T |
| FAMILY NAME | Sealy |
| SIGNATURE | SEALY T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Bristol |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3211-6900 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 72 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 21 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Recognition, Equality and Democracy
We respond to three reviews of our The New Governance of Religious Diversity (2024), by A. Sophie Lauwers, Pier-Luc Dupont, and Simon Thompson, respectively. Lauwers focuses on our rendering of the notion of recognition. From a critical religion perspective she asks us to consider how misrecognition is often intertwined with recognition. Dupont focuses on the issue of education, particularly faith schools, and from a liberal human rights perspect…
Thinking with and beyond the Bristol school of multiculturalism
Since its emergence in the late 1990s, the Bristol School of Multiculturalism (BSM) has developed a complex, coherent and influential set of conceptual tools to critically and comparatively apprehend the politics of cultural and religious diversity. Animated by commitments to deep diversity, national belonging and equal citizenship, as well as to ‘contextual’ forms of moral reasoning, its founding figures have made significant interventions in a …
Responses by the authors
Religion, difference and majoritarianism
The governance of religious diversity
Difference and diversity
Multiculturalism (MC) and interculturalism (IC) as approaches to governing ethnic diversity have developed an often antagonistic relationship, borne out through scholarly as well as political debates. Yet, increasingly, scholars have begun to note that while IC-consistent policies have gained some prominence, they have done so alongside MC policies. This suggests the possibility of complementarity between the two, and prominent scholars on both s…
Political secularisms and (ethno-)religious minorities
Governing Religious Diversity in Global Comparative Perspective
The relation between multiculturalism, interculturalism and cosmopolitanism in UK diversity politics
This article assesses whether multiculturalism, interculturalism and cosmopolitanism find themselves in tension or, rather, coexist in UK politics. This is done through the analysis of recent policy and civil society documents, complemented with semi-structured interviews with race equality organizations. Results suggest a complementary relationship between these normative perspectives, with interculturalism and multiculturalism jointly shaping t…
Just and Reasonable, But Is It Multiculturalism? A Review of Raphael Cohen-Almagor’s Just, Reasonable Multiculturalism (2021, Cambridge
The betweenness of the double stranger
British converts to Islam can be hard to locate in relation to the majority and born Muslim minority in society and can experience rejection from both sides. Based on an ethnic lens and framework, they are conceptualised as ‘in-between’ the two, neither fully one nor the other. This article argues that by foregrounding religious rather than ethnic identity, a different pattern of how converts position themselves in society emerges. To do so, it d…
Western Europe and Australia
Newly established religious minorities in Western European countries and Australia have sparked fresh questions about the public place of religion. The current situation in the region reflects a certain agonism over the place of public religion and its relation to liberal secular order. This has especially been the case for the region’s Muslims in a context marked by fears of radicalisation and extremism. This contribution considers these respons…
Diversities and dynamics in the governance of religion
Debates and controversies over the governance of religious diversity are important features of the social and political landscape in all five regions covered in this collection. All have historical as well as contemporary forms of these debates that have had a significant impact on not just the structures and forms of governance but also on the very identity of each state as it has grappled, and continues to grapple, with religious diversity and …
South and Southeast Asia
South and Southeast Asia is characterised by an historic and deep religious diversity and countries in the region have also been shaped by colonialism. Focusing on the cases of India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, this contribution explores the governance of religious diversity and conceptions of secularism influenced by – but quite distinct from – those found in the West. It assesses how, upon independence from colonial rule, a core concern in all th…
Developing a framework for a global comparative analysis of the governance of religious diversity
Between and within different world regions today religious diversity remains a significant challenge and researchers have identified a wide variety of church-state relations as well as of legal, institutional, and political arrangements related to state-religion connections. These variations in type and degree owe something to distinctive political, institutional, theological, and historical inheritances and have led to different normative concep…
Beyond Euro‐Americancentric Forms of Racism and Anti‐racism
Following the killing of George Floyd by the police in the US in May 2020, a new anti‐racism has erupted across the world. While this anti‐racism is squarely focussed on dismantling anti‐black racism, scholarship—especially in western Europe—has for some decades now been emphasising racisms : Anti‐South Asian racism, Islamophobia and Sinophobia in Britain, anti‐Arab racism in France and anti‐Turk and anti‐migrant racisms in Germany, and so on. Th…
British converts to Islam
Consideration of the growing phenomenon of converts to Islam in Britain is emerging at the moment when converts are entering the popular imagination through the dominant negative tropes of threat and betrayal. In this context, the religious aspect of conversion is feared, diminished, contained or ignored. Given the emphasis on either change or continuity, these identities are conceptualised as hybrid or multiple identities, with little understand…
British Converts to Islam, Habitus and Social Positioning
The number of people converting to Islam in Europe has been growing in recent years and interest in this phenomenon has gained increasing attention. Scholarly attention has sought in particular to "locate" converts in relation to majority and minorities in society. One way of conceiving and theorising in this vein has been to focus on the notion of habitus, with alternative emphases of change or continuity. This article engages with conversion se…
Freedom of Religion and the Accommodation of Religious Diversity
The classical liberal concern for freedom of religion today intersects with concerns of equality and respect for minorities, of what might be loosely termed 'multiculturalism'. When these minorities were primarily understood in terms of ethno-racial identities, multiculturalism and freedom of religion were seen at that time as quite separate policy and legal fields. As ethno-religious identities have become central to multiculturalism (and to rej…
Islamophobia
Islamophobia has been a controversial concept ever since it first gained popular currency. One of the main sticking points over the term is whether or not it refers to religion. For both detractors and advocates of the term alike, religion should be or is removed from the meaning of Islamophobia, which is conceived as a form of anti-Muslim racism. Islam, we might say, is thereby removed from Islamophobia. Yet, in doing so, it falls short on two o…
Multiculturalism, interculturalism, ‘multiculture’ and super-diversity
Multiculturalism has increasingly become challenged and outcast, whether directly or summarily, as theoretically useful or empirically valid. This has come prominently from three corners: interculturalism, ‘everyday’ multiculturalism or ‘multiculture’ and super-diversity, in all of which the zombieness of multiculturalism is seen to be mutually reassured. Nevertheless, there are significant short comings that have not been thoroughly addressed an…
Multiculturalism, interculturalism, ‘multiculture’ and super-diversity
Multiculturalism has increasingly become challenged and outcast, whether directly or summarily, as theoretically useful or empirically valid. This has come prominently from three corners: interculturalism, ‘everyday’ multiculturalism or ‘multiculture’ and super-diversity, in all of which the zombieness of multiculturalism is seen to be mutually reassured. Nevertheless, there are significant short comings that have not been thoroughly addressed an…
Beyond Euro‐Americancentric Forms of Racism and Anti‐racism
Following the killing of George Floyd by the police in the US in May 2020, a new anti‐racism has erupted across the world. While this anti‐racism is squarely focussed on dismantling anti‐black racism, scholarship—especially in western Europe—has for some decades now been emphasising racisms : Anti‐South Asian racism, Islamophobia and Sinophobia in Britain, anti‐Arab racism in France and anti‐Turk and anti‐migrant racisms in Germany, and so on. Th…
Islamophobia
Islamophobia has been a controversial concept ever since it first gained popular currency. One of the main sticking points over the term is whether or not it refers to religion. For both detractors and advocates of the term alike, religion should be or is removed from the meaning of Islamophobia, which is conceived as a form of anti-Muslim racism. Islam, we might say, is thereby removed from Islamophobia. Yet, in doing so, it falls short on two o…
Developing a framework for a global comparative analysis of the governance of religious diversity
Between and within different world regions today religious diversity remains a significant challenge and researchers have identified a wide variety of church-state relations as well as of legal, institutional, and political arrangements related to state-religion connections. These variations in type and degree owe something to distinctive political, institutional, theological, and historical inheritances and have led to different normative concep…
Freedom of Religion and the Accommodation of Religious Diversity
The classical liberal concern for freedom of religion today intersects with concerns of equality and respect for minorities, of what might be loosely termed 'multiculturalism'. When these minorities were primarily understood in terms of ethno-racial identities, multiculturalism and freedom of religion were seen at that time as quite separate policy and legal fields. As ethno-religious identities have become central to multiculturalism (and to rej…
British converts to Islam
Consideration of the growing phenomenon of converts to Islam in Britain is emerging at the moment when converts are entering the popular imagination through the dominant negative tropes of threat and betrayal. In this context, the religious aspect of conversion is feared, diminished, contained or ignored. Given the emphasis on either change or continuity, these identities are conceptualised as hybrid or multiple identities, with little understand…
Western Europe and Australia
Newly established religious minorities in Western European countries and Australia have sparked fresh questions about the public place of religion. The current situation in the region reflects a certain agonism over the place of public religion and its relation to liberal secular order. This has especially been the case for the region’s Muslims in a context marked by fears of radicalisation and extremism. This contribution considers these respons…
South and Southeast Asia
South and Southeast Asia is characterised by an historic and deep religious diversity and countries in the region have also been shaped by colonialism. Focusing on the cases of India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, this contribution explores the governance of religious diversity and conceptions of secularism influenced by – but quite distinct from – those found in the West. It assesses how, upon independence from colonial rule, a core concern in all th…
Political secularisms and (ethno-)religious minorities
Diversities and dynamics in the governance of religion
Debates and controversies over the governance of religious diversity are important features of the social and political landscape in all five regions covered in this collection. All have historical as well as contemporary forms of these debates that have had a significant impact on not just the structures and forms of governance but also on the very identity of each state as it has grappled, and continues to grapple, with religious diversity and …
British Converts to Islam, Habitus and Social Positioning
The number of people converting to Islam in Europe has been growing in recent years and interest in this phenomenon has gained increasing attention. Scholarly attention has sought in particular to "locate" converts in relation to majority and minorities in society. One way of conceiving and theorising in this vein has been to focus on the notion of habitus, with alternative emphases of change or continuity. This article engages with conversion se…
Multiculturalism, interculturalism, ‘multiculture’ and super-diversity
Multiculturalism has increasingly become challenged and outcast, whether directly or summarily, as theoretically useful or empirically valid. This has come prominently from three corners: interculturalism, ‘everyday’ multiculturalism or ‘multiculture’ and super-diversity, in all of which the zombieness of multiculturalism is seen to be mutually reassured. Nevertheless, there are significant short comings that have not been thoroughly addressed an…
British converts to Islam
Consideration of the growing phenomenon of converts to Islam in Britain is emerging at the moment when converts are entering the popular imagination through the dominant negative tropes of threat and betrayal. In this context, the religious aspect of conversion is feared, diminished, contained or ignored. Given the emphasis on either change or continuity, these identities are conceptualised as hybrid or multiple identities, with little understand…
British Converts to Islam, Habitus and Social Positioning
The number of people converting to Islam in Europe has been growing in recent years and interest in this phenomenon has gained increasing attention. Scholarly attention has sought in particular to "locate" converts in relation to majority and minorities in society. One way of conceiving and theorising in this vein has been to focus on the notion of habitus, with alternative emphases of change or continuity. This article engages with conversion se…
Freedom of Religion and the Accommodation of Religious Diversity
The classical liberal concern for freedom of religion today intersects with concerns of equality and respect for minorities, of what might be loosely termed 'multiculturalism'. When these minorities were primarily understood in terms of ethno-racial identities, multiculturalism and freedom of religion were seen at that time as quite separate policy and legal fields. As ethno-religious identities have become central to multiculturalism (and to rej…
Islamophobia
Islamophobia has been a controversial concept ever since it first gained popular currency. One of the main sticking points over the term is whether or not it refers to religion. For both detractors and advocates of the term alike, religion should be or is removed from the meaning of Islamophobia, which is conceived as a form of anti-Muslim racism. Islam, we might say, is thereby removed from Islamophobia. Yet, in doing so, it falls short on two o…
The betweenness of the double stranger
British converts to Islam can be hard to locate in relation to the majority and born Muslim minority in society and can experience rejection from both sides. Based on an ethnic lens and framework, they are conceptualised as ‘in-between’ the two, neither fully one nor the other. This article argues that by foregrounding religious rather than ethnic identity, a different pattern of how converts position themselves in society emerges. To do so, it d…
Western Europe and Australia
Newly established religious minorities in Western European countries and Australia have sparked fresh questions about the public place of religion. The current situation in the region reflects a certain agonism over the place of public religion and its relation to liberal secular order. This has especially been the case for the region’s Muslims in a context marked by fears of radicalisation and extremism. This contribution considers these respons…
Diversities and dynamics in the governance of religion
Debates and controversies over the governance of religious diversity are important features of the social and political landscape in all five regions covered in this collection. All have historical as well as contemporary forms of these debates that have had a significant impact on not just the structures and forms of governance but also on the very identity of each state as it has grappled, and continues to grapple, with religious diversity and …
South and Southeast Asia
South and Southeast Asia is characterised by an historic and deep religious diversity and countries in the region have also been shaped by colonialism. Focusing on the cases of India, Indonesia, and Malaysia, this contribution explores the governance of religious diversity and conceptions of secularism influenced by – but quite distinct from – those found in the West. It assesses how, upon independence from colonial rule, a core concern in all th…
Developing a framework for a global comparative analysis of the governance of religious diversity
Between and within different world regions today religious diversity remains a significant challenge and researchers have identified a wide variety of church-state relations as well as of legal, institutional, and political arrangements related to state-religion connections. These variations in type and degree owe something to distinctive political, institutional, theological, and historical inheritances and have led to different normative concep…
Beyond Euro‐Americancentric Forms of Racism and Anti‐racism
Following the killing of George Floyd by the police in the US in May 2020, a new anti‐racism has erupted across the world. While this anti‐racism is squarely focussed on dismantling anti‐black racism, scholarship—especially in western Europe—has for some decades now been emphasising racisms : Anti‐South Asian racism, Islamophobia and Sinophobia in Britain, anti‐Arab racism in France and anti‐Turk and anti‐migrant racisms in Germany, and so on. Th…
Governing Religious Diversity in Global Comparative Perspective
The relation between multiculturalism, interculturalism and cosmopolitanism in UK diversity politics
This article assesses whether multiculturalism, interculturalism and cosmopolitanism find themselves in tension or, rather, coexist in UK politics. This is done through the analysis of recent policy and civil society documents, complemented with semi-structured interviews with race equality organizations. Results suggest a complementary relationship between these normative perspectives, with interculturalism and multiculturalism jointly shaping t…
Just and Reasonable, But Is It Multiculturalism? A Review of Raphael Cohen-Almagor’s Just, Reasonable Multiculturalism (2021, Cambridge
Responses by the authors
Religion, difference and majoritarianism
The governance of religious diversity
Difference and diversity
Multiculturalism (MC) and interculturalism (IC) as approaches to governing ethnic diversity have developed an often antagonistic relationship, borne out through scholarly as well as political debates. Yet, increasingly, scholars have begun to note that while IC-consistent policies have gained some prominence, they have done so alongside MC policies. This suggests the possibility of complementarity between the two, and prominent scholars on both s…
Political secularisms and (ethno-)religious minorities
Recognition, Equality and Democracy
We respond to three reviews of our The New Governance of Religious Diversity (2024), by A. Sophie Lauwers, Pier-Luc Dupont, and Simon Thompson, respectively. Lauwers focuses on our rendering of the notion of recognition. From a critical religion perspective she asks us to consider how misrecognition is often intertwined with recognition. Dupont focuses on the issue of education, particularly faith schools, and from a liberal human rights perspect…
Thinking with and beyond the Bristol school of multiculturalism
Since its emergence in the late 1990s, the Bristol School of Multiculturalism (BSM) has developed a complex, coherent and influential set of conceptual tools to critically and comparatively apprehend the politics of cultural and religious diversity. Animated by commitments to deep diversity, national belonging and equal citizenship, as well as to ‘contextual’ forms of moral reasoning, its founding figures have made significant interventions in a …
Sociology (18 works) · Political science (14 works) · Law (12 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (12 works) · Politics (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Religion, Society, and Development (10 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Gender Studies (8 works) · Philosophy (8 works)