Religion or Belief, Discrimination and Equality: Britain in Global Contexts is an excellent resource for students and scholars interested in the social, political and legal phenomena that inform intellectual debates, inspire policy changes and shape public discourse. It is also sure to be appreciated by policy-makers, journalists and lawyers who want a coherent, jargon-free account of the data and issues that create the controversies that come across their desks every day. Written in a lucid, accessible manner, the authors have struck a remarkable balance between empirical data, social theory, historical context and personal perspectives related to the legal, cultural and political quandaries that face many contemporary liberal democracies. Paul Bramadat, Director, Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, University of Victoria, Canada Religion or Belief, Discrimination and Equality is a very important contribution to current debates about religion in the public sphere. Its strengths lie in the mass of fieldwork data that lie behind it, and the way it sets this data within a context and relates it to contemporary debates. The book provides a wealth of important data in an accessible and contextualized form, directly supports teaching in a number of areas, and is a useful reference tool for both scholars and students, which will no doubt help feed into debates in the public sphere on these issues. Paul Hedges, Senior Lecturer in Theology & Religious Studies, University of Winchester, UK Religion or Belief, Discrimination and Equality: Britain in Global Contexts provides a comprehensive review of the contemporary context of religion and belief equality. It charts the development of the legal protection against religious discrimination and provides significant new and rich data on religion or belief discrimination in key sectors of social life. In its conclusions it provides valuable insights for policy-makers and equality practitioners. The book makes a considerable contribution to the growing literature on law and religion and should be essential reading for anyone interested in a better understanding of the state of religious equality and diversity in the UK today. Lucy Vickers, Professor of Law, Oxford Brookes University, UK This book makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of the nature of religion or belief discrimination in Britain today. It is particularly useful to be able to compare the experiences of different religion or belief groups and to see the extent to which these have changed since the authors' previous analysis in the early 2000s. David Perfect, Equality and Human Rights Commission, UK This publication offers a thorough 360 view of religion and belief discrimination in Britain while at the same time contextualizing the British situation inside of a global context. It is a highly valuable resource for learners, practitioners and policy-makers trying to tackle some of the very difficult issues which we face today. Robin Sclafani, Director of CEJI - A Jewish Contribution to an Inclusive Europe, Brussels, Belgium This comprehensive work, grounded in sound empirical research, opens a wide window onto the complex interrelations of religions and belief systems with policies and practices aimed at promoting equality and ameliorating discrimination. In an age of increasing diversity of personal and communal identities, including religious, the issue of maintaining communal cohesion that yet allows individual freedoms is critical. It is of the essence of the genuinely secular society that is premised on allowing for all sorts of diversities in a context of mutual respect and equal treatment before the Law. To echo the books concluding sentence, the evidence and analysis presented by the authors provides important and needful insight for policy-makers and practitioners concerned with the betterment of contemporary society. The findings and discussions contained in this volume are of crucial significance for Britain and beyond. Prof. Douglas Pratt, University of Waikato, New Zealand and the University of Bern, Switzerland Paul Weller and his team have produced a magnificent report for our time, when religion and belief are of ever-increasing importance in public life. Their analysis of the current UK contexts: legal, religious and political, is comprehensive and nuanced in its recognition of the complexity of the UK context itself. The report is both timely and pertinent, in setting an agenda across the whole range of public policy in UK: not for radical change, nor for new law, but for steady adaptation of policy and practice to reflect the local realities of our variegated religious landscape. In Europe, the report deserves the widest possible circulation: as the first comprehensive national report on the religion and belief context from an equalities perspective, its methodology and approach should serve as a model for similar work in countries across Europe. Alan Murray, President, European Network on Religion and Belief
