Banal, benign or pernicious? The relationship between religion and national identity from the perspective of religious minorities in Greece
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Speaker
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Dr Effie Fokas
Research Fellow, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), Athens, and Research Associate, Hellenic Observatory, LSE
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Chair
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Professor Kevin Featherstone
Hellenic Observatory Director; Eleftherios Venizelos Professor of Contemporary Greek Studies & Professor of European Politics;
LSEE-Research on South Eastern Europe Co-Chair
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Date
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Tuesday, 25 November 2014
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Venue
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Cañada Blanch Room, COW 1.11, Cowdray House, LSE
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Time
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18:00-19:30
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Twitter
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#LSE_HOfokas
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Seminar Poster
Abstract
The religion-national identity link in most of western Europe, but also in the United States in the form of civil religion, is often conceived of as ‘merely’ manifested in all kinds of symbols around us, including flags, anthems, depictions on currency, etc., much like Michael Billig’s description of ‘banal nationalism’.
A strong link between religion and national identity in the Greek context is conspicuous: it underpins close relations between church and the state and it is often activated as justification for an othering of the non-Orthodox in Greece. This paper examines repercussions of the religion-national identity link for religious minorities in particular, and in so doing assesses ways in which this link can form a significant barrier to religious freedom for individuals who fall outside its scope. The discussion draws on results from the Greek case study conducted as part of a broader empirical research project on pluralism and religious freedom in majority Orthodox contexts (PLUREL). One finding of the latter project is that the resilient, highly exploitable and emotive relationship between religion and national identity is the main common denominator found across four country case studies, though often mediated in some way.
The case of Greece serves as fruitful ground for consideration of the potential impact of a strong religion-national identity link on religious minorities, given its notably poor track record in the European Court of Human Rights religious freedoms jurisprudence. Indicatively, Kokkinakis v. Greece (1993) was the watershed case in the Court’s case law on religious freedom: it was the first Article 9 (guaranteeing freedom of thought, conscience and religion) conviction issued by the Court. And Greece alone (one of 47 countries in the Court’s gambit) is responsible for over 20% of all Article 9 convictions. But such statistics can be misleading or, at best, superficial. A central aim of this paper is to draw insights from the Greek case which can contribute to a more general discussion regarding the potential impact of religion-national identity links on religious freedom, well beyond Greek and/or Orthodox contexts.
Photos
Professor Kevin Featherstone (right) introduces Dr Effie Fokas (left)
Dr Effie Fokas
The audience in the Cañada Blanch Room
The talk was followed by a Q&A session
