The Study of Religion and European Integration: The State of the Art

Abstract

More than anywhere else in political science and international studies, the students of European integration were, until recently, remarkably silent on the contemporary role of religion in EU politics. While it is true that until today, no monograph has been written specifically on the political relations between the EU and the Catholic Church, the situation has been changing: a quickly growing host of studies which analyses various links between the EU and religion or Christian churches has recently started to appear. This growing body of literature is comprised of a very diverse spectrum of perspectives ranging from legal studies and politico-philosophical essays about religion in the (European) public space to conceptual discussions of religious lobbying, the link between religion and European identity or Euroscepticism. Other studies cover the chronology of the dialogue between the EU and the churches, the relation of specific aspects of Catholic theology to the integration process and many other particular topics. Some authors innovatively explore the theological motivations of political actors or the theological justification of various political structures and institutions, sometimes directly pointing to the overlap between the sacred and secular orders a society upholds. Many other authors, however, stick to the older conceptual tools and focus on the religious agency in world politics, searching for religious actors who influence politics within particular states, who constitute independent quasi-states (the Holy See), or who act as non-state actors or even transnational institutions or networks.