- Docente: Loris Zanatta
- Credits: 4
- Language: Italian
- Teaching Mode: In-person learning (entirely or partially)
- Campus: Forli
- Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in International relations and diplomatic affairs (cod. 6750)
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from Sep 30, 2026 to Dec 16, 2026
Learning outcomes
Today as always—but now more than ever—religion and international politics are inextricably linked; a “return of religion” has been underway everywhere for some time. The identification of nation with religion in less secularized societies, alongside the proliferation of political religions in those that once appeared the most secular, tends to result in the sacralization of politics and geopolitics across the board. This workshop aims to provide students with the tools to navigate this complex landscape by illustrating the global spread of various religious denominations and analyzing their projection onto the international stage.
Course contents
The workshop is organized into two parts. The first 10 hours will consist of lectures covering key historical, conceptual, and geopolitical aspects of the relationship between international politics and religion: civil and political religions, nationalism, secularization, and the public resurgence of religion. The 10 hours of the second part will be dedicated to student presentations—arranged in advance—on the relationship between politics and religion in various regions of the world: political Islam; Catholicism and Pentecostalism in Latin America; political Hinduism in India; Evangelical Christianity in the United States; nation and religion in China; and more.
Readings/Bibliography
The core text is:
L. Ozzano, Politica e religione nel mondo contemporaneo, Mondadori 2025
Suggested reading:
P.L. Berger (ed.), America religiosa, Europa laica? Perché il secolarismo europeo è un'eccezione, il Mulino 2010
J. Casanova, Oltre la secolarizzazione, il Mulino 2000
J. Cesari, We God's People: Christianity, Islam and Hinduism in the World of Nations, 2022
M. Duffy, God's Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics, Norton & Co. 2011
J. Haynes, Politics and Religion: The Basics, Routledge 2026
P. Norris, R. Inglehart, Sacro e secolare, il Mulino, 2007
A. Omer (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding, Oxford U.P. 2019
Teaching methods
Lectures combined with student presentations in class
Assessment methods
The students' preparation will be evaluated based on the effort put into presenting their assigned case.
Teaching tools
Online databases and AI may be used.
Office hours
See the website of Loris Zanatta