"The Dynamics of Secularism, (Anti)Clericalism, Theology, and Science in Southeastern and Central Europe"

The Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of Montenegro invites you to participate in the international conference “The Dynamics of Secularism, (Anti)Clericalism, Theology, and Science in Southeastern and Central Europe”. The conference is organised as part of the project “Beyond the Anticlerical Paradigm: Rethinking Secularism in Contemporary Montenegro” supported by the University of Oxford.

Recent socio-political developments in Montenegro, marked by the active role played by the Orthodox Church during the country’s tumultuous period of political changes (2020-2023), invite us to theorise the evolving conceptions of secularism, secularity, post-secularism and (de)secularisation in Montenegro’s political and cultural context, as well as reflect on how these trends play out in the broader regional setting of Southeastern and Central Europe. To this end, our conference seeks to explore contemporary theoretical perspectives on the contentious interplay between secularism, pluralism and post-secularism, with a particular interest in how these debates pertain to the unique historical experiences and contexts of Southeastern and Central Europe, as well as on Montenegro’s idiosyncratic case.

We hope to engage with a variety of themes pertaining to the role of religious organisations in the public sphere, the place of religious argumentation in public discourse, and the historical legacies that informed the diverse secular configurations in Southeastern and Central Europe.

This conference will be held on September 28-29, 2024, in the coastal town of Petrovac, Montenegro.