Leni Franken 
Liberal Neutrality and State Support for Religion 

This book focuses on the financing of religions, examining some European church-state models, using a philosophical methodology. The work defends autonomy-based liberalism and elaborates how this liberalism can meet the requirements of liberal neutrality. The chapters also explore religious education and the financing of institutionalized religion. This volume collates the work of top scholars in the field. Starting from the idea that autonomy-based liberalism is an adequate framework for the requirement of liberal neutrality, the author elaborates why a liberal state can support religions and how she should do this, without violating the principle of neutrality. Taking into account the principle of religious freedom and the separation of church and state, this work explores which criteria the state should take into account when she actively supports religions, faith-based schools and religious education. A number of concrete church-state models, including hands-off, religious accommodation and the state church are evaluated, and the book gives some recommendations in order to optimize those church-state models, where needed. Practitioners and scholars of politics, law, philosophy and education, especially religious education, will find this work of particular interest as it has useful guidelines on policies and practices, as well as studies of church-state models.

Table of Content

Part 1: Liberalism and Neutrality.- Chapter 1: Liberalism and Neutrality – a philosophical Exploration.- Chapter 2: Neutrality and Autonomy.- Chapter 3: Autonomy and valuable Options: Raz, Kymlicka and Chan.- Chapter 4: Reformation Liberalism: non-autonomy based.- Conclusion Part 1.- Part 2: Autonomy-based Liberalism and active State Support for valuable Options.- Chapter 5: Can a liberal State support Art?.- Chapter 6: Liberal State Support for Art and liberal Neutrality: Criteria.- Chapter 7: Active State Support for Religions and liberal Neutrality: Criteria.- Chapter 8: Active State Support for faith-based Schools.- Chapter 9: Active State Support for Religious Education.- Conclusion Part 2.- Part 3: Church-state Models and Neutrality.- Chapter 10: Church-state Models in an international Perspective.- Chapter 11: Political Secularism: passive and assertive.- Chapter 12: Active State Support for Religions.- Chapter 13: State Church.- Conclusion Part 3.- Part 4: General Conclusion: liberal Neutrality and active State Support for Religions: a Contradiction in Terms?.- Bibliography.

About the author

Leni Franken is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Antwerp (Belgium). Her research interests are political and autonomy-based liberalism, church-state relations, neutrality, faith-based schools and religious education. In 2011, she edited Religious Education in a Plural, Secularized Society (Waxmann)