The Judicialization of Religion

Resource type
Date created
2018-10-03
Authors/Contributors
Abstract
Throughout the second half of the twentieth century, one Muslim-majority country after another adopted constitutional provisions meant to incorporate Islam into the legal order. In what is now a familiar pattern, leaders sought to harness the legitimating power of Islamic symbolism. But rather than shore up state legitimacy, these provisions opened new avenues of contestation.In countries where judicial institutions are robust, religion of the state clauses have helped to catalyze a “judicialization of religion,” wherein courts were made to authorize an “official” religion and/or render judgment on the appropriate place for religion in the political order. This study theorizes one aspect of the judicialization of religion through the illustrative case study of Malaysia. The study examines how shifting political context provided opportunities for activist lawyers to advance sweeping new interpretations of Malaysia’s Religion of the Federation clause and, with it, a new vision for state and society.
Description
The full text of this paper will be available in October 2020 due to the embargo policies of Law & Society Review. Contact summit@sfu.ca to enquire if the full text of the accepted manuscript can be made available to you.
Published as
The Judicialization of Religion” Law & Society Review, vol. 52 (2018) 685-708. DOI: 10.1111/lasr.12350
Publication details
Publication title
Law & Society Review
Document title
The Judicialization of Religion
Date
2018
Volume
52
First page
685
Last page
708
Publisher DOI
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author(s).
Scholarly level
Peer reviewed?
Yes
Language
Member of collection

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