Law and religion in the 21st century : relations between states and religious communities / edited by Silvio Ferrari and Rinaldo Cristofori.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Proceedings of the first Conference of the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies, held in Milan in January 2007.

A perspective from the sociology of religion / Grace Davie -- State and religion in South Africa : open issues and recent developments / Lourens M. du Plessis -- States and religions in West Africa : problems and perspectives / Fatou Kiné Camara -- Religious communities and the state in modern India / Tahir Mahmood -- State and religion in Japan : Yasukuni shrine as a case study / Hiroaki Kobayashi -- Religion and the state in the United States at the turn of the twenty-first century / W. Cole Durham Jr. and Robert T. Smith -- Religions and law : current challenges in Latin America / Juan Navarro Floria -- State and religion in Europe / Giuseppe Casuscelli -- States and religions in post-Communist Europe / Giovanni Barberini -- The recent developments of church-state relations in Central Europe / Balázs Schanda -- Church and state relations in the Czech Republic and in Slovakia / Antonello De Oto -- States and churches in Northern Europe : achieving freedom and equality through establishment / Marco Ventura -- Not even believing in belonging : states and churches in five North-European (post-) Lutheran countries / Lisbet Christoffersen -- Church and state in the United Kingdom : anachronism or microcosm? / Mark Hill -- Protection against religious hatred under the United Nations ICCPR and the European convention system / Jeroen Temperman -- Religious freedom and freedom of expression in France / Blandine Chélini-Pont -- Proselytism and the right to change religion / Asher Maoz -- Proselytism and the right to change religion in Islam / Roberta Aluffi Beck-Peccoz -- Proselytism and the right to change religion in Israel / Aviad Hacohen -- Proselytism and the right to change religion : the Romanian debate / Nicolae Dură -- Religious symbols : an introduction / Malcolm D. Evans -- Religious symbols between Forum internum and Forum externum / Peter Petkoff -- A brief introduction to the religious symbols debate in Italy and the United States / Adelaide Madera -- The European court of human rights on religious symbols in public institutions : a comparative perspective : maximum protection of the freedom of religion through judicial minimalism? / Hans-Martien Th. D. ten Napel and Florian H.K. Theissen -- Civil religion and religious symbols in public institutions in Russia / Elena Miroshnikova -- The current debate on Islam / Mathias Rohe -- Canadian Muslim women and resolution of family conflicts : an empirical qualitative study (2005-2007) / Anne Saris and Jean-Mathieu Potvin -- The implementation of the 1992 agreement in Spain / Carmen Garcimartín -- Islam at the threshold / Andrea Pin -- Conclusion / Silvio Ferrari.

This book brings together leading international scholars of law and religion to provide an overview of current issues in State-religion relations. The first part of the collection offers a picture of recent developments in key countries and regions. The second part is focused on Europe and, in particular, on the Nordic States and the post-communist countries where State-religion systems have undergone most profound change. The third and final part is devoted to four issues that are currently debated all over the world: the relations between freedom of expression and freedom of religion; proselytism and the right to change religion; the religious symbols; and the legal status of Islam in Europe and Canada. The work will be a valuable resource for academics, students and policy-makers with an interest in the interaction between law and religion.