Introduction

In the history of political thought, interest in religion as a marker of identity has been central to conceptualization of political theories. In the Western tradition of political thought, for instance, this is evident in the works of major thinkers, such as John Locke and Immanuel Kant. By deploying postsecularism to articulate the current political challenge of modernized Western societies, Jurgen Habermas revived the discourse on the role of religion in politics. Although democratic societies everywhere face increasingly complex challenges about coexistence that heretofore were confined to the periphery, the conceptual resources available to them remain entrenched in the comforts of past assumptions. It is imperative to reflect on postsecularism from a standpoint that fosters dialogue between the Western and the non-Western views because of the impact of the different trajectories of secularization on the role religion plays in the global politics.