Search results for ""author michael wiener""

Projecting a global interdisciplinary vision, this insightful book develops a peer-to-peer learning methodology to facilitate reconciling religion and human rights, both in multilateral contexts and at the national level. Written by leading human rights practitioners, the book illuminates the tension zones between religion and rights, exploring how the ‘faith’ elements in both disciplines can create synergies for protecting equal human dignity.Ibrahim Salama and Michael Wiener analyse the place of religion in multilateral practice, including lessons learned from the ‘Faith for Rights’ framework. Based on the jurisprudence of international human rights mechanisms, the book clarifies ambiguities of human rights law on religion. It also unpacks the potential positive role of non-State actors in the religious sphere, demonstrating that the relationship between religion and human rights is not a zero-sum game. Ultimately, the book empowers actors on both sides of the ideological fence between religion and human rights to deconstruct this artificial, politically instrumentalized dichotomy.This innovative book will be a vital resource for faith-based actors, human rights defenders and policymakers working at the intersection between religion, culture and human rights. With the co-authors’ commentary on the #Faith4Rights toolkit, it will also be invaluable for peer-to-peer learning facilitators, scholars and students of human rights law, public international law and religious studies.

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Freedom of religion or belief is deeply entrenched in international human rights conventions and constitutional traditions around the world. Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrines the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion as does the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the United Nations General Assembly adopted in 1966. A rich jurisprudence on freedom of religion or belief is based on the European Convention on Human Rights, drafted in 1950 by the Council of Europe. Similar regional guarantees exist in the framework of the Organization of American States as well as within the African Union. Freedom of religion or belief has found recognition in numerous national constitutions, and some governments have shown a particularly strong commitment to the international promotion of this right. As Heiner Bielefeldt and Michael Wiener observe, however, freedom of religion or belief remains a source of political conflict, legal controversy, and intellectual debate. In Religious Freedom Under Scrutiny, Bielefeldt and Wiener explore various critiques leveled at this right. For example, does freedom of religion contribute to the spread of Western neoliberal values to the detriment of religious and cultural diversity? Can religious freedom serve as the entry point for antifeminist agendas within the human rights framework? Drawing on their considerable experience in the field, Bielefeldt and Wiener provide a typological overview and analysis of violations around the world that illustrate the underlying principles as well as the relationship between freedom of religion or belief and other human rights. Religious Freedom Under Scrutiny argues that without freedom of religion or belief, human rights cannot fully address our complex needs, yearnings, and vulnerabilities as human beings. Furthermore, ignoring or marginalizing freedom of religion or belief would weaken the plausibility, attractiveness, and legitimacy of the entire system of human rights.

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