About this Event
Olin Hall, 900-998 E Isaacs Ave, Walla Walla, WA 99362
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Free Event
A talk by Visiting Educator in Sociology Matteo Bortolini (Univ. of Padua, Italy).
"Civil and Uncivil Religion. Politics, Religion, and the Public Sphere in the US and Italy"
What does an evangelical Bible Belt politician and the Speaker of the Italian Chamber of Deputies have in common? How does the presence or absence of a powerful actor like the Vatican influence national politics? The visibility and public role of religious communities changes through time and space: in different societies different denominations occupy the public scene, and perform different roles in regional and national discussions about moral, economic, and political issues. A focused, differentiated approach to the strategies and performances of concrete religious actors in the public sphere thus seems more fruitful and interesting than a general discourse on the issues of "religion and politics" and/or "secularization." The United States and Italy are two radically different cases that can be compared to understand how different groups of progressive and conservative Christians have sought to impose their presence in the public sphere, influencing political discourse, elections results, and rights talk.
