Call for Chapters - "The Rhetoric of Religious Freedom in the United States"

Early in the 21st century, religious freedom has emerged as a prominent ideograph in a variety of public controversies, notably including healthcare statutes and same-sex marriage. But it is not limited to them. Indeed, this recent instantiation is part of a long historical legacy.

Though much has already been written on religious freedom in the United States, these treatments have come mostly from historians and legal scholars, with relatively little attention from rhetorical critics. This means that there is a wealth of literature on how lawyers and judges have interpreted the First Amendment in US history, but considerably less on religious freedom as a trope in political, social movement, and related discourses.

As such, this edited volume proposes to bring together scholars interested in the variety of forms that free, public religiosity may assume, and what rhetorical techniques are operative in a public square populated by a diversity of religious-political actors. In particular, we aim to include a diverse set of scholars who consider different religions, historical periods, and legal, political, or social contexts.

Chapters will address questions that may include:

What is the relationship between religious freedom and American civic identity? How does the discourse of religious freedom open and limit space for public belonging and engagement?

How have religious citizens made constructive contributions to public policy? Conversely, how has public policy influenced religious freedom and its relationship to citizenship?

How have rhetors and movements performed religious freedom? How have rhetors engaged arguments concerning the separation of church and state?

How has the discourse of religious freedom emerged as a contested terrain? Who can claim religious freedom and to what end?

How have non-Christian movements fared in this "free" environment? Have they been able to appropriate religious freedom arguments with any success?

Please contact Eric C. Miller (emiller@bloomu.edu) with any questions, and submit an abstract by Friday, January 13 for full consideration.