Thursday, March 10, 3:30-5pm, Mershon Center for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.

In this talk, Hurd introduces the central argument of her book, Beyond Religious Freedom. The book is a study of state-sponsored global efforts to promote religious freedom, religious engagement, and the rights of religious minorities. It asks, “What difference do these projects make for the well-being of the people whose lives they seek to shape, reform and redeem?”

Hurd develops a new vocabulary that distinguishes between “expert religion,” “governed religion,” and “lived religion.” Exploring the blurred boundaries and dizzying power dynamics between these fields, she draws attention to the distance between constructs of religious governance — such as religious freedom, religious outreach and interfaith dialogue — authorized by experts, states and other authorities, and the lived realities of the individuals and communities they aspire to govern.

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