Gender, sex and religious freedom in the context of secular law

The round table will address gendered and sexual aspects of law and religious  (un) freedom in the global era. Why and how do discussions about religious freedom and secularism coalesce around questions of gender and sexuality? What is the relationship between the regulation of gender and sexuality and the regulation of religion in modern secular societies?

Panel:
Mayanthi Fernando, University of Calfornia, Santa Cruz
Janet Jakobsen, Barnard College, Columbia University

Chair: Christine M. Jacobsen, Centre for Womens and Gender Research, UiB

This roundtable is part of the conference Law and Religious (un) freedom in the global era which explores the interconnections between law and religion in a global range of contexts. Posing the question of how ‘religion’ is constituted and governed by law and para-legal practices, this conference will also critically examine the prevailing assumption that promoting ‘religious freedom’ as a legally enforceable ‘right’ is the best guarantee for the free exercise of religion and for the accommodation of difference within deeply plural societies.

Co-organized with  SKOK, Centre for Womens and Gender Research