Faith and Citizenship: Friends or Enemies?

A new conference organised by London Metropolitan University's last month, addressed the complex relationship between faith and citizenship.

Faith and citizenship are often seen as mutually hostile traditions of how to organise society and live a moral life. However this conference, which was hosted by LGIR’s Faith and Citizen Programme, explored the possibility that in contemporary European cities, and most particularly in London, active religious communities and citizenship are mutually supportive and in fact need each other to preserve a moral life.

The Faith and Citizenship Programme was established by Dr Maurice Glasman, with the support of the University. Its purpose was to test the thesis that both citizenship and the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam are mutually supportive traditions and are no longer in opposition. This thesis is tested in three ways; through research, through educational programmes and through training local leaders to engage in political action.

The Faith and Citizen Programme has been working in this area for more than four years, establishing a reputation for itself with pioneering programmes and research. Having found a growing audience interested in their work, the Programme decided to create a public forum to engage with its partners and share knowledge and expertise with other institutions.

Speaking of the Conference Dr Glasman said: ‘It has established a global network of academics and practitioners in engaging with how faith and citizenship can both be strengthened in our cities by resisting both the market and the state and asserting the power and priority of society. Our partners were all concerned with promoting this thesis and establishing the Faith and Citizenship Programme at London Metropolitan University as one of the main centres for this work.’

The strength of this discussion brought together key representatives in this field, including international and national Community Organisers and Faith Leaders. Over eighty people attended each session of the conference. They were a mix of academics, religious community leaders, research students and civic leaders. Click here for a list of some of the academics who came to the Conference from around the world.

London Metropolitan University’s Faith & Citizenship Programme organised the Conference with its partners; Cambridge University’s Cambridge Interfaith Programme; The Faith and Public Policy Forum at King’s College London; The NIDA Trust, the largest Muslim educational trust in London, and the London Citizens Organisation, the biggest alliance of churches and Mosques in Europe.

The conference was a great success, generating new partners for the Programme in Frankfurt and Australia. The educational session was particularly successful, with many enquiries being made by school wanting to adopt the subject as part of their curriculum

Vice-Chancellor, Brian Roper, said that this work, ‘defined the mission of the University in engaging with the local community and encouraging them to participate in public life.’

16 September 2008