Secularism and the Limits of Community

27 Pages Posted: 12 Dec 2010 Last revised: 20 Dec 2010

See all articles by Jeremy Waldron

Jeremy Waldron

New York University School of Law

Date Written: December 9, 2010

Abstract

This paper addresses two issues: (1) the use of religious considerations in social and political argument; and (2) the validation of the claims of community against markets and other aspects of globalization. It argues that we should be very wary of the association of (1) with (2), and the use of (1) to reinforce (2). The claims of community in the modern world are often exclusionary (the word commonly associated with community is "gated") and hostile to the rights of the poor, the homeless, the outcast, and so on. The logic of community in the modern world is a logic that reinforces market exclusion and the disparagement of the claims of the poor. If religious considerations are to be used to uphold those claims and to mitigate exclusion, they need to be oriented directly to that task, and to be pursued in ways that by-pass the antithetical claims of community. Religious considerations are at their most powerful in politics - and are most usefully disconcerting - when they challenge the logic of community.

Keywords: community, exclusion, globalization, homelessness, markets, poverty, Rawls, rights, religion

Suggested Citation

Waldron, Jeremy, Secularism and the Limits of Community (December 9, 2010). NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 10-88, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1722780 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1722780

Jeremy Waldron (Contact Author)

New York University School of Law ( email )

40 Washington Square South
New York, NY 10012-1099
United States

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
1,551
Abstract Views
12,312
Rank
22,158
PlumX Metrics