The course “Religion and Democratization” sought to capture the specific role of religion in the authoritarian states’ process of democratization. By moving away from the dichotomy of state and religion, the course focused on five books that explored in depth the interaction between the government, religious actors, and religious organizations. While the scope of the course was limited to the religious traditions of Christianity and Islam, case studies from Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa were analyzed. The course was divided into two modules; first being a series of in-class seminars that discussed the assigned weekly readings, and the second dedicated to writing a research paper proposal. Module two heavily relied on group work to come up with an empirical puzzle and its corresponding bibliography, methodology, and thesis.
The inquiry to answering the key question of the course begins in the heart of authoritarian politics. By laying out the grounds on how authoritarian regimes operated, the legitimacy of raising the question on religion’s role in democratization is validated. In most case studies discussed in class, religion provided social networks that were politicized to challenge the authoritarian regimes. Multiple theories were introduced as the course’s framework in assessing anecdotal evidence provided by earlier scholars. It is interesting to find that the rural poor and of the indigenous peasants’ role in democratization is just as significant as that of the opposition parties and ordinary voters. A common argument found in the cases of Mexico and Europe is that competition between the state and the church is a necessary precondition in disrupting the status quo. Whereas in Indonesia, the literature suggests that there must be a shift in focus from the Islamist parties to the Islamist movements outside these formal political parties.
The books used in class discussions greatly contributed to my understanding of social movements and democratization by directing attention to groups that are seldom brought up in the scholarly discourse such as the indigenous poor, oppressed ethnic groups, and the middle-class clergy. An observed pattern throughout the readings was that religious competition begot mass mobilization. The class touched on a wide array of principles; protest and rebellion, indigenous collective action, indigenous identity, ethnic politics, social movements, and popular movements in modern autocracies.
The course’s module two which focused on the group project helped me in developing my presentation skills while working with a team. The research proposal was divided into five parts and each week we presented on our progress. Although informal, the constructive criticisms my group received from other group and from Professor Alonso herself allowed us to improve our proposal not only on the final paper but also on the final presentation.