A talk by Rajeev Bhargava, director of the Center for the Study of Developing Societies (CDSD) in India and renowned author of Secularism and Its Critics. Moderated by Nadia Urbinati, Kyriakos Tsakopoulos Professor of Political Theory and Hellenic Studies at Columbia University.

Europe, the home of secular humanism, has the most secularized social institutions in the world. Wasn’t it settled long ago that European states were secular too? Rajeev Bhargava’s answer is an emphatic no. Not only have most European states continued the long-standing practice of appeasing national churches, they continue to have a legal and constitutional framework that fails to safeguard the interests of religious minorities. What is worse, conceptual blindness prevents them from even noticing that they are not secular. Europe’s inter-communal problems will further deteriorate if they don’t refashion their political secularism.

Cosponsored by the Center for Democracy, Tolerance, and Religion.