David Koussens – författare

This book provides a multidisciplinary and comparative look at the contemporary phenomenon of conscientious objection or contestation in the name of religion and examines the key issues that emerge in terms of citizenship and democracy. These are analysed by looking at the different ways of challenging or contesting a legal obligation on the grounds of religious beliefs and convictions.The authors focus on the meaning of conscientious objection which asserts the legitimacy of convictions – in particular religious convictions – in determining the personal or collective relevance of the law and of public action. The book begins by examining the main theoretical issues underlying conscientious objection, exploring the implications of the protection of freedom of conscience, the place of religion in the secular public sphere and the recognition and respect of ethical pluralism in society. It then focuses on the question of exemptions and contestations of civil norms, using a multidisciplinary approach to highlight the multiple and diverse issues surrounding them, as well as the motives behind them. This book will be of great interest to scholars, specialists and graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are interested in issues of religious diversity. Researchers and policymakers in think-tanks, NGOs and government units will find the volume useful in identifying key issues in understanding the phenomenon of conscientious objection and its implications in managing ethical diversity in contemporary societies.

This book provides a multidisciplinary and comparative look at the contemporary phenomenon of conscientious objection or contestation in the name of religion and examines the key issues that emerge in terms of citizenship and democracy. These are analysed by looking at the different ways of challenging or contesting a legal obligation on the grounds of religious beliefs and convictions.The authors focus on the meaning of conscientious objection which asserts the legitimacy of convictions – in particular religious convictions – in determining the personal or collective relevance of the law and of public action. The book begins by examining the main theoretical issues underlying conscientious objection, exploring the implications of the protection of freedom of conscience, the place of religion in the secular public sphere and the recognition and respect of ethical pluralism in society. It then focuses on the question of exemptions and contestations of civil norms, using a multidisciplinary approach to highlight the multiple and diverse issues surrounding them, as well as the motives behind them. This book will be of great interest to scholars, specialists and graduate and advanced undergraduate students who are interested in issues of religious diversity. Researchers and policymakers in think-tanks, NGOs and government units will find the volume useful in identifying key issues in understanding the phenomenon of conscientious objection and its implications in managing ethical diversity in contemporary societies.

The increasing visibility of Islam in France and the vehemence of debates about it have often contributed to narrow public perceptions of  secularism to a simplistic antireligious crusade, a misleading image disseminated by the media and politicians alike. Taking the opposite stand, this book embarks on a comprehensive effort to document the multiple areas in which French secularism plays out - in debates over “cults,” places of worship, chaplaincy services in public institutions, the recognition of associations of worship, and more -, outlining and analizing the legal paths favored by the state in the regulation of religious diversity.  While Islam has undoubtedly contributed to the reshaping of French secularism in the last decades, the book moves beyond what has come to be known as the "Muslim Question" to look at the multiplicity of challenges contemporary religious beliefs, practices, and organizations now pose to the state. David Koussens examines the main political and legal configurations of French secularism over the last thirty years through a sociological and juridical lens, in order to better document its diversity. Such a portrait emphasizes that French secularism is not a univocal phenomenon but one that appears in many guises. 

Affirmer que nous sommes au seuil d’une nouvelle époque dans l’étude scientifique du religieux au Québec serait sans doute exagéré. Quelques observations le suggèrent néanmoins?: reconfigurations institutionnelles dont les effets demeurent difficiles à évaluer (fermetures de facultés et ouvertures de centres, écoles ou instituts), intérêt renouvelé pour l’objet religieux chez les universitaires qui n’identifient pourtant pas leurs travaux comme relevant des sciences des religions ou de la théologie, entrée en scène d’une génération de chercheurs ayant intégré un nouvel habitus professionnel (internationalisation des parcours, multiplication des publications, financiarisation de la recherche, etc.), actualité qui place certaines expressions du religieux au cœur des débats de société.Il y a là une situation à saisir et à comprendre. C’est cet objectif ambitieux que se sont fixé trente-neuf universitaires du Québec et d’ailleurs, en autant de thèmes qui tentent de circonscrire les transformations québécoises d’un champ d’études et de son objet religieux?: évolution des institutions et des associations savantes, nouveaux enjeux épistémologiques, expressions socioreligieuses contemporaines, mises en comparaison internationales. Au terme de cet exercice en forme de bilan persiste une lancinante question?: et si la fondation québécoise des sciences des religions demeurait inachevée??

N’est-il pas a priori incongru d’associer laïcité et protestantisme évangélique ? Si la dissonance semble en effet évidente, cette évidence mérite pourtant d’être mise en question. C’est à ce défi que répond cet ouvrage, bousculant les représentations préconstruites et révélant le rôle paradoxal d’accompagnement et de résistance que les protestants évangéliques ont joué dans les processus de sécularisation et de laïcisation de nombreux contextes nationaux (Suède, Mexique, France, Canada, Suisse, Liban, Brésil, États-Unis et États d’Afrique centrale). Comment les évangéliques ont-ils bénéficié de l’autonomisation des États modernes à l’égard d’Églises établies pour mieux se développer ? Dans quelle mesure le renforcement d’États de droits protecteurs des droits et libertés leur a-t-il été favorable ? Et comment se positionnent-ils aujourd’hui par rapport à la dissociation accrue de la sphère religieuse et de la sphère civile ? Là sont quelques-unes des questions auxquelles cet ouvrage propose de réfléchir à partir de regards résolument pluridisciplinaires et transcontinentaux.