The talk will present the findings of a series of major cross-national studies by the Pew Research Center which reveal that religion impacts the political, social and individual lives of almost everyone. The studies show that the overwhelming majority people today self-identify as being affiliated with one religion or another, and even among people who are religiously unaffiliated, many have some religious beliefs or engage in some religious practices. The prospects for continued growth of religious populations appear strong as they are younger on average than the world’s religiously unaffiliated population. As people migrate around the globe, they take their religious beliefs with them, but as they do, they also may face new forms of government restrictions and social hostilities. In fact, Pew Research shows that government restrictions on religion and social hostilities involving religion have been rising in most regions of the world, impacting both existing and newer religions. While causes of the increase are numerous and multidimensional, data reveal a clear and strong association between government restrictions and social hostilities – as one rises, so does the other. Moreover, Pew Research studies show that religion continues to shape the attitudes, actions and beliefs of people, particularly in non-Western countries. While these studies have revealed much about the impact of religion on politics, societies and people today, much more still needs to be learned.

Biography:

Brian J. Grim is senior researcher in religion and world affairs and director of cross-national data at the Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project. He is an expert on global religious restrictions and hostilities, as well as international religious demography. Grim also plays a central role in writing reports, and providing information to policy makers, news organizations and others interested in religion and world affairs. He worked as an educator, researcher and development coordinator in the former Soviet Union, China, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe before joining the Pew Research Center in 2006. Grim received a doctorate in sociology from the Pennsylvania State University. He is an author of The Price of Freedom Denied (Cambridge Univ. Press), The World Religion Database (Brill) and The World’s Religions in Figures (Wiley-Blackwell), as well as Religion in China, The Future of the Global Muslim Population and the project’s global restrictions on religion studies. Grim also has appeared as an expert on global religion on numerous media outlets, including CNN, BBC, Fox, CBS, C-SPAN, and regularly presents to high level audiences including the White House, State Department, European Parliament and the UN Human Rights Council. He also is a TEDx speaker.

We are also co-hosting a seminar with Dr Brian J. Grim at the Law Faculty, to find out more about the seminar please visit the Oxford Human Rights Hub event page.