About the project
Based on Anya Topolski’s research project “The Race-Religion Intersection” (2017-2022), Radboud University’s Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies (FFTR) has become an important hub in the Netherlands for the study of the intersections of race and religion. Under the heading of the “The Race-Religion Constellation Project” (RRC), Radboud faculty, postdocs, and PhDs--from a variety of disciplines, and based inside and outside the Netherlands--meet monthly to present, discuss and develop their work. On this website, you can find short introductions to their individual projects. One collective goal of this multidisciplinary and international research group is to develop a European critical philosophy of race by focusing on the intersection of race and religion. The RRC develops a framework to fill a significant lacuna in European philosophy through dialogue with other disciplines, both established canons and marginalised traditions (from the global South and the South in the North). It is also directly relevant to societal concerns as it is impossible to understand the complexity of racial exclusion in Europe without a comprehensive understanding of the race-religion intersection. To fill this scholarly and societal lacuna, a structural analysis of the race-religion intersection is necessary, from the Middle Ages through the inauguration of modernity until today. This analysis will make clear how racial exclusion in Europe is related to religious categories. This will not only permit us to understand many of the current problems of exclusion Europe is confronted with; it will also allow us to conceptualise non-exclusionary forms of political community. At present, the socially-constructed category of race is most often restricted to colour-based or biological notions of race. Yet, racial categories are, in fact, variously articulated in and evolve through history. While many undoubtedly will challenge the need to re-open the painful past of European antisemitism in order to better understand its contemporary manifestations, just as many will refuse to acknowledge that Islamophobia and antizyganism are forms of racism alongside anti-Black racism, it is imperative that these challenges be met not only by activists, but also by academics.
Partners& Funding for this project:
