Religion, Politics and Society

Religion remains a force to be reckoned with in the contemporary global geopolitical landscape.

As a result, there is a pressing need to reassess predominant understandings of secularisation, as well as the meanings of, and tensions inherent within, secular assumptions and secularist positions. The so-called 'resurgence' of religion in the public sphere in recent decades is now a significant area of interdisciplinary scholarship eliciting a complex array of responses, ranging from vehement opposition to the very idea that religious concepts and commitments have a right to expression in political debates, to a reassessment of the origins and implications of divisions between the secular and the religious and their relationship to the nation state.

The notion that there is no singular secularism, but rather a plurality of secularisms, and of ‘religion’ as an invention of European modernity and colonial interests are two of many emerging efforts to re-conceptualise the meanings of religion and the secular and the entangled relationship between them.

SOAS’s MA Religion, Politics, and Society programme offers a unique and intellectually rich opportunity to examine these questions and issues at an advanced and interdisciplinary level by studying the complex relationships between religion and politics in the histories and contemporary political contexts (both national and international) of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

A core, decolonial objective is to actively challenge the Eurocentrism of current debates around secularism, secularisation, the nature of the public sphere within modernity, by drawing substantive attention to the plurality and contested nature of conceptions of both religion and the secular when considered in a global framework. The programme is designed to appeal to policy-makers, analysts, journalists and researchers in either international, national or regional institutions and organisations engaged in policy formation, inter-religious dialogue and community development, social work, development, conflict resolution, peace building or diversity management.

Why study MA Religion, Politics, and Society at SOAS?

• SOAS is ranked 13th in the UK for Arts and Humanities (QS World University Rankings 2022)
• SOAS is ranked 6th in the UK for employability (QS World University Rankings 2023)
• Our department has been ranked 3rd for research outputs and 7th place overall in the Theology and Religious Studies research rankings (Research Excellence Framework REF 2021)
• Theology and Religious Studies scored above sector in the following categories: research culture, community, progression, research skills, and professional development (2023 Postgraduate Research Experience Survey)
• All of our Theology & Religious Studies impact case-studies were world-leading/internationally excellent (REF 2021)
• 85.4% of our Theology & Religious Studies research outputs were world-leading/internationally excellent – 56.3% of our submitted outputs were deemed world-leading (REF 2021)
• Our Theology & Religious Studies research environment score was 85% world-leading/internationally excellent (REF 2021)
• 88.4% of our Politics & International Studies research outputs were world-leading/internationally excellent (REF 2021)