ABSTRACT
To understand the political and social importance of religious actors, it is necessary to comprehend what they say and do in their relationship with the state. Minority religious groups may perceive civil religion as an attempt by the state to perpetuate the hegemony of a dominant religious tradition at the expense of other, less major, ones. Religion’s relationship with the state is only bounded by attempts to build civil religions. Today, religion is being liberated from providing slavish legitimacy for secular authority. Religious leaders and activists often criticise governments in relation to social, economic and political policies. Civil society is the arena where multiple social movements – for example, neighbourhood associations, women’s groups, religious organisations, intellectual currents, and the like – join with civic organisations – including those coordinating lawyers, journalists, trade unions and entrepreneurs – constitute themselves into an ensemble of arrangements.
