How should states recognise religion? Strengthening multicultural secularism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8132203 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jonathan Chaplin (0000-0001-8128-4225, Cambridge Theological Federation, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 54 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Pages | 1-22 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-16 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religion State & Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0963-7494 • E-ISSN: 1465-3974 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/09637494.2026.2618878 |
| OpenAlex | W7136920212 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 27 |
This article suggests improvements to a proposal for a ‘multidimensional recognition of religion’ by Simon Thompson and Tariq Modood. The proposal proceeds from a broader approach to public religion, ‘multiculturalist moderate secularism’, that has emerged from leading figures in the ‘Bristol School of Multiculturalism’ (notably Modood). The approach is critical of restrictive accounts of religion–state relationships and supportive of a capacious recognition of religion by the state. Thompson and Modood’s notion of ‘multidimensional recognition’ lends valuable specificity to this broad approach. The first part expounds and clarifies central features of multidimensional recognition. The second proposes three broad ‘categories of recognition’ that can usefully frame and inform state policies towards religion. Two scholarly fields – religious freedom law and associational theory – are identified that can strengthen multidimensional recognition. The third part argues that, notwithstanding the aspiration to inclusion motivating multicultural moderate secularism, it is not yet sufficiently attentive to two kinds of risk arising in state–religion relationships, what I call recognitive bias and recognitive co-option. Paying greater attention to these risks will lend yet further specificity to religious recognition, improve democratic deliberation, and shore up the freedom of religions in order to retain their integrity within the public realm.
Government (linguistics · Multiculturalism · Secularism · Work (physics · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious Education and Schools · Religious Freedom and Discrimination
Religion in Liberal Political Philosophy
Multicultural Jurisdictions
Liberalism’s Religion
Rethinking Multiculturalism
On the Genus and Species of Recognition
Conflicts Between Religious Freedom and Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination
The Normative Structure of Multicultural Secularism
Christianity and Contemporary Politics
Public Religions in the Modern World
Developing a framework for a global comparative analysis of the governance of religious diversity
Religion, secularity, culture? Investigating Christian privilege in Western Europe
The multidimensional recognition of religion
Othering, Alienation and Establishment
The Bristol school of multiculturalism
The centre for the study of ethnicity and citizenship
Ethnocentric political theory, secularism and multiculturalism
Religion in the Public Sphere
Social Unity in Britain
| Highly cited | No |
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