Orthodox Christianity and Human Rights

This project brings together scholars of Orthodox Christianity to provide comprehensive analyses of the contemporary relationship between Orthodox Christianity and human rights in all of its variation and complexity. Participants will investigate Orthodox Christian approaches to human rights in Eastern Europe, Eurasia, and the Middle East from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. They will examine the factors that account for divisions within and between traditionally Orthodox countries on the question of human rights and will probe other, less-known Orthodox perspectives more amenamble human rights. Not only will the research illuminate new possibilities for how Orthodox Christians negotiate their tradition's relationship to modernity, but the project will partner scholars with journalists and policymakers to enable a more informed and responsible perspective on traditionally Orthodox countries. The end product of the project will be publications (academic books, articles, op-eds, blogs and new media) to provide nuanced analysis and promote a more sophisticated discourse about the Eastern Christian traditions in relation to Western democratic values by contextualizing the competing roles Orthodox Christian communities are playing in shaping geopolitical relationships, especially between "East" and "West".

Further Information

The Project "Orthodox Christian Studies Center" at the Fordham University