The IIRF Africa (Cape Town) invites to the Call for Papers for the Conference on Religious Freedom in South Africa with the theme: Freedom of Religion or Belief in a Democracy.
We are pleased to announce the next conference organized by the International Institute for Religious Freedom Africa (Cape Town), with the theme: Freedom of Religion or Belief in a Democracy.
“The right to freedom of religion is probably one of the most important of all human rights … [it] is especially important for our constitutional democracy which is based on human dignity, equality and freedom.”
Former Constitutional Court Justice, Sandile Ngcobo in Prince v President, Cape Law Society [2002 (2) SA 794 (CC), paras 48–48].
South African society reflects a fervent approach to the right to have a belief and the freedom to practice those beliefs, evident from the Constitutional Court’s jurisprudence. The establishment of the South African Charter on Religious Rights and Freedoms is indicative of the broad representation and commitment of both mainstream and minority beliefs. These observations attest to substantive positives regarding religion in South Africa’s rather young democracy. Having said this, critical inspection on the status of religious freedoms in South Africa is called upon to not only gain clarity on whether religious convictions and practices truly enjoy protection but also to develop insights on the scope, extent, and limitation of religious freedoms.
The International Institute for Religious Freedom Africa (Cape Town) in collaboration with the University of Johannesburg are pleased to announce an interdisciplinary call for abstracts hereby welcoming local and international submissions that will make a meaningful scholarly contribution to insights on religious freedom in South Africa.
Papers may address any disciplines or topics intersecting with religious freedom, including but not limited to, the following themes:
- Legal and human rights perspectives
- Decolonisation and freedom of belief
- Liberalism and religion/culture
- Democracy, Secularism, and Tolerance
- Religion and conflict
- Individual and associational religious autonomy
- Religious freedom advocacy
The physical presentation of accepted papers at the conference should be approximately 20–30 minutes in length; a detailed schedule will be distributed in due course.
If you are interested in participating face-to-face, please send a 300-400 word abstract to wnnel@uj.ac.za by no later than 1 December 2023. Accepted papers will be confirmed by 12 December 2023. A selection of conference papers will be considered for publication.
The conference will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, and hosted by the University of Johannesburg, in proud partnership with the University of the Free State and Rhodes University.
All participants are expected to pay for their own costs. The registration fee for the conference will be announced later.
For any enquiries: wnnel@uj.ac.za