Congres: The non-religious and the state: choices and frameworks for seculars from the age of revolution to the current day

The conference is organised as part of the research into multiple secularities done by our research group Secular Studies Association Brussels (SSAB) within the field of secular studies. Secular Studies has grown out of religious studies as a fully-fledged interdisciplinary field, with specialized journals such as Secularism and Nonreligion (NSRN) and Secular Studies (Brill), separate monographic series such as Religion and Its Others and Studies in Religion, Nonreligion and Secularity (De Gruyter), Secular Studies (New York University Press) and New Perspectives on the History of Liberalism and Freethought (De Gruyter) and international and interdisciplinary groups such as the Nonreligion and Secularity Network and the International Society for Historians on Atheism, Secularism and Nonreligion. Our conference adds to current research by ensuring a worldwide scope, as evidenced by our program, and thus utilising the unique position Belgium holds as a crossroads for ideas, concepts and divergent research cultures present in the Romanesque/Latin world and the Anglo-American sphere of influence respectively.  The members of SSAB boast a network to match this ambition.

The work done during the conference will result in a publication in the peer reviewed series New Perspectives on the History of Liberalism and Freethought (De Gruyter) in 2023. This event will thus open up discussions within secular studies that are linked to historical and judicial work, adding a new dimension to a field that is known primarily for its research into sociological and psychological aspects of the secular(s). This is of course linked to current issues of ‘vivre’ ensemble’ in a post-secularist society that struggles to guarantee freedom of religion or belief (FORB) for its citizens. The full program can be consulted here.

Organizing partners:

• Centre for Academic and Secular Humanist Archives (CAVA, Brussels)
• Liberas (Heritage Centre for the History of the Freedom Ideal, Ghent)
• The International Society for Historians on Atheism, Secularism and Humanism (ISHASH)
• Humanists International (HI)
• Union of Secular Associations (deMens.nu, Brussels)

Organizing committee

• Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Tyssens
• Prof. Dr. Frank Scheelings
• Prof. Dr. Christoph de Spiegeleer
• Niels De Nutte

Academic committee

• Dr. Silvia Baldassarre (University of Florence - Italy)
• Prof. Dr. Joseph Blankholm (University of California Santa Barbara – USA)
• Prof. Dr. Tina Block (Thompson Rivers University - Canada)
• Prof. Dr. Callum Brown (Glasgow University - Scotland)
• Dr. Leni Franken (Universiteit Antwerpen - Belgium)
• Prof. Dr. Freddy Mortier (Universiteit Gent – Belgium)
• Dr. Caroline Sägesser (CRISP - Belgium)
• Dr. Stefan Schröder (Bayreuth University - Germany)
• Prof. Dr. Valentine Zuber (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes – France)

This conference is made possible through the support of Instelling Morele Dienstverlening Brussel.