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The Religious Symbolism and Discrimination project consists of a body of research in the philosophy of religion that has effected changes in practice and awareness among religious practitioners, legal practitioners, and policy makers both within the North-West of England and nationally. This case study describes changes in users' awareness of the issues involved in religious-discrimination legal cases; changes in their religious literacy; and changes in their practice (particularly with regard to professional equalities training). The project delivered impact on civil life and public discourse through (a) a philosophical analysis of the concepts of symbol and belief in religious-discrimination cases; (b) a participatory research methodology that involved users in the construction of research right from the beginning; and (c) community-engagement activities devised to ensure that the research findings influenced users.
This case study focuses on the reach and significance of the impact achieved particularly by a body of research conducted from within the Centre for Society, Religion and Belief, and especially involving the work of Weller and Cheruvallil-Contractor. This has especially informed policy development in the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC); the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU); and the Department of Communities and Local Government. Finally, it has equipped broader users of research in public, private, voluntary and community, and religion or belief sector organisations to develop their policy development and practice in a more evidence-based way.
Professor Richard Norman's research has led to an improvement in the public awareness of humanist thought and value, both at national and international level. This impact was generated through articles written for a non-academic audience; public lectures and conference presentations; a report on humanist issues as the centrepiece of parliamentary debate in the House of Lords; and an appearance to discuss humanist perspectives on BBC Radio 4's The Moral Maze.
In research on religion and society, Professor Woodhead has argued for an updated, expanded understanding of `religion' and `belief' in the UK today. In part by leading to Woodhead's direction of the AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Programme, the research has led to major impacts throughout 2008-13. In particular it has influenced the Equality and Human Rights Commission's handling of new equalities legislation, and it has significantly enhanced public discussion about religion through the high-profile Westminster Faith Debates, co-organised by Woodhead and the Rt Hon Charles Clarke. The Debates have reached millions, increasing recognition of religion's ongoing presence in public life and generating further policy impacts. The many beneficiaries include policy-makers in equalities issues, politicians, journalists and the general public.
Sondra Hausner's AHRC-funded project, Vernacular Religion, grew out of her existing work with Nepalis around the world, and especially in the UK. Conducted in close collaboration with the Centre for Nepal Studies-UK, an organization run by Nepali social scientists for the benefit of Nepalis living in Britain, Hausner's research has taken up the multiple religious identities of the Nepali community in the UK. Based on voluntarily collected social data, her team's work led to a much clearer recognition of the specific cultural, social and religious profile of this migrant community. This information, of vital importance as British Nepalis define their identity and their roles in the wider society of Great Britain and transnationally, was fed back into the community through various channels including the non-academic publication Nepalis in the UK: An Overview (Adhikari, ed., CNS-UK 2012), participation in community integration programmes, and feedback sessions where findings of the team's research were discussed with community representatives, religious leaders, and policymakers.
Professor Eric Kaufmann's research into the interrelations between religion, demography and politics has made a significant contribution to public awareness of and engagement with issues concerning the political demography of religion and has informed American foreign policy. His book Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth: Religion, Demography and Politics in the 21st Century (2010) received considerable public attention, including numerous reviews, media interviews and invitations to speak. Kaufmann has challenged the widely-held view that religion must inevitably decline in Europe. He has arguably contributed toward lowering the temperature of concern over the `Eurabia' question; and has improved governments' understanding of the demographics of religion — especially its role in Israeli politics, where the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox are tilting the balance of power toward hawks and away from those advocating a two-state solution.
Today, religion has great social and political influence. Religion `returned' to politics and international relations following the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s. The case study focuses on a key expression of religion's influence: `religious soft power'. Religious soft power is the ability to wield influence in politics and international relations, despite the fact that religion has few conventional or `hard' attributes of power and influence (such as, financial, diplomatic or military resources). The research sets out strategies to enhance public understanding of religious soft power, including broadcast and internet dissemination, publishing ventures, and research seminars and conferences open to the public.
LSE research has contributed to institutional capacity building and to the renewal of the study of religion in the former Soviet Union. More specifically, the LSE anthropologist Mathijs Pelkmans has contributed to the training of a new generation of local scholars in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia; he has helped introduce these scholars to contemporary research and to innovative methodologies, and has mentored them in critical social science. As stated in one of the testimonials: "the ultimate value of Mathijs' engagement has been to intensify dialogue between different research, educational, and broadly scholarly traditions, and thereby to facilitate our own efforts to develop a discipline which is relatively new in Central Asia".
This case study describes an iterative cycle of research and impact in relation to work in the area of religion and peacebuilding in Nepal. King's and Owen's research in Buddhism and conflict transformation, Islam and gender violence, and their work on developing a framework for analysing the potential of religion for peacebuilding in a given context, has informed the development of a participatory workshop on the role of religious actors in peacebuilding which has been delivered to a number of communities in the Terai region of Nepal, and the facilitation of a larger networking event in Kathmandu in June 2013 which resulted in the formulation of an action plan to which participating religious groups and faith-based NGOs have committed.
Research by Dr Hiroko Kawanami into the religious and social standing of nuns in Myanmar has helped to empower women in that country by guiding the work of what is now Myanmar's most prestigious Buddhist nunnery school, [text removed for publication], which Kawanami co-directs. By raising the standing of nuns in Myanmar, the school has expanded opportunities for the country's women and girls. Since 2008 the school has grown to provide a model of indigenous development, a space for civil society discussions, and a feature in Myanmar's emerging tourist itinerary. The school is informing the community-level capacity-building work of major non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as ActionAid, Oxfam, and UNICEF. Representatives of 20 NGOs convened at the school in 2013; thus, Kawanami's impact is spreading internationally.
This case study contains politically sensitive material given the still-volatile situation in Myanmar. For this reason, Lancaster University prefers that Kawanami's impact not be publicised widely.