Disputes about the Muslim headscarf and about crucifixes in classrooms, the Ground Zero mosque debate—religion is back on the scene of secular society, where it is perceived primarily as a form of public controversy. Cultural globalization and transnational migration have increased religious diversity in the West and raised the potential for tension and conflict between different religious as well as non-religious groups. Has religion become a threat to social solidarity in the 21st century? Or can it also build bridges? These questions were at the heart of a public debate in Milan and an international conference in Vienna, organized by the IWM (see pages 7 and 9). Both events were heavily influenced by the thought of Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor, who directs the Institute’s research focus on “Religion and Secularism”. Taylor counters the demagogic and divisive slogans of an emergent international Islamophobia by arguing that religious diversity in particular can be a valuable source of solidarity—if dialogue and mutual understanding take the place of confrontation and self-segregation (see page 8).
Dialogue is also the key to the solution of another conflict. At this year’s Fellows’ Meeting, New York Times columnist Roger Cohen delivered a speech in which he expressed his certainty that there is hope for peace in the Middle East: “Don’t tell me that Israelis and Palestinians can never make peace or that Iranians and Americans can never join hands.” It is possible, he claimed; as Europe’s cruel history teaches us, enmities can be overcome. In Cohen’s essay on page 21 you can read how.
In cases where too many people are participating, however, dialogue sometimes seems to be not the solution but the problem. The latest climate talks in Copenhagen were a good example of this. That is why David G. Victor calls for more agreements between individual states: in climate politics, as so often in environmentalism, “small is beautiful”. You can find essays on the politics of climate change on pages 15 and 16.
When this issue went to print, we received the sad news that Tony Judt had died in New York. He had been a Permanent Fellow of the IWM for many years. In a very personal obituary on page 3, Timothy Snyder bids farewell to this brilliant historian. Tony will be missed—not only as a formidable contributor to today’s intellectual landscape but also as a close friend.
Sven Hartwig
Download the IWMpost 104 as a PDF
Content
Obituary: Tony Judt
Eine intellektuelle Reise / von Timothy Snyder
Rethinking Post-War Europe / by Tony Judt
News
Europe: A Retired Power / by Ivan Krastev
Russia: Lost in Transition / by Leonid Kosals
European Debate on Religion
Respecting the Others
Solidarity in a Pluralist Age / by Charles Taylor
Conference on Secularism
Secularism in Global Perspective
Analogues of Secularity / by Sudipta Kaviraj
Lectures and Discussions
A Secular Age?—Discussion
French Laïcité, Studying Propaganda, Global Warming—Monthly Lectures
Traumas and Miracles—Book Presentation
The Ambiguity of Political Art, the Climate after Copenhagen—Lecture Series
The Europeanness of the Balkans—Christine von Kohl Lecture
Modernities Revisited—Junior Visiting Fellows’ Conference
Discourses of Violence—Keynote Speech and Conference
Europe and Its Nations—Tischner Debate
Conference on Gender
Feministische Aufklärung
Essays on Climate Politics
Climate Makes History / by Dipesh Chakrabarty
Too Big to Succeed / by David G. Victor
From the Fellows
Europe’s Killing Fields / by Timothy Snyder
The Forgotten Religion / by Lois Lee
Fellows and Guests, Varia
Publications
Guest Contribution
Vanquishing History / by Roger Cohen
In Memoriam: Józef Tischner
Face to Face / by Krzysztof Michalski
