Religion and Human Rights

International human rights has been a major and influential regime of treaties, institutions, and norms to protect humans across the globe. With regard to religion, the right to freedom of religion or belief (FORB), as part of human rights, has become a central part of the management of religious diversity in many places. This course will introduce students to the many facets of the interface between human rights and religion, with more emphasis on FORB. It starts by introducing the history and main concepts of human rights, continued with discussion of central issues such as debates around universalism vs. particularism, individual vs. group rights, limitations, and more specific issues such as the relation between FORB, gender and religion. The last section of the course will focus on norms, practices and politics of FORB in Indonesia, with a ‘clinic session’ that focuses on a few case studies from Indonesia, investigated through the lens of different disciplines.