Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Palgrave Macmillan

The Religion of Law

Race, Citizenship and Children's Belonging

  • Book
  • © 2013

Overview

Authors:
  1. Suhraiya Jivraj

    1. Kent Law School, University of Kent, UK

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

  • A growing subject, of interest across a range of academic disciplines

Part of the book series: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies (PSLS)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this book

Log in via an institution
eBook USD 37.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Licence this eBook for your library

Institutional subscriptions

Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction

    • Suhraiya Jivraj
    Pages 1-16

  3. Conceptualizing Law’s Religion: Socio-Legal Perspectives

    • Suhraiya Jivraj
    Pages 17-28

  4. Interrogating Law’s Religion: Critical Perspectives

    • Suhraiya Jivraj
    Pages 29-52

  5. Non-Christianness in Adoption and Child Welfare Cases: Prioritizing Racialized Religion

    • Suhraiya Jivraj
    Pages 53-81

  6. Orientalism, Belonging and Nationhood

    • Suhraiya Jivraj
    Pages 82-101

  7. Religion in Education: Christian Legacy, Orientalist Positioning and Common Values

    • Suhraiya Jivraj
    Pages 102-126

  8. Faith in Schools: Racialized Religion, Community Cohesion and Belonging

    • Suhraiya Jivraj
    Pages 127-157

  9. Conclusion

    • Suhraiya Jivraj
    Pages 158-166

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 167-195
    Download chapter PDF
Back to top

Keywords

About this book

How is religion, particularly non-Christianness, conceptualised and represented in English law? What is the relationship between religion, race, ethnicity and culture in these conceptualisations? What might be the socio-political effects of conceptualising religion in particular ways? This book addresses these key questions in two areas of law relating to children.

The first case study focuses on child welfare cases and reveals how the boundaries between race and theological notions of religion as belief and practice are blurred. Non-Christians are also often perceived as uncivilized but also, at times, racial otherness can be erased and assimilated. The second examines religion in education and the increasing focus on 'common values'. It demonstrates how non-Christian faith schools are deemed as in need of regulation, while Christian schools are the benchmark of good citizenship. In addition, values discourse and citizenship education provide a means to 'de-racialise' non-Christian children in the ongoing construction of the nation.

Central to this analysis is a focus on religion as a socio-political, contingent, fluid and invented concept.

Reviews

“The Religion of Law: Race, Citizenship and Children’s Belonging, is a welcome addition to the overarching category of work which we might still describe loosely as law and religion but it is a book which has in its essence ideas of difference and distinction. … this book is a detailed study of the many different ways in which religion might be constructed or conceptualized. … Jivraj’s book is rich and multilayered, weaving together many ideas and issues … .” (Jane Mair, Feminist Legal Studies, Vol. 25, 2017) "This is a landmark book, offering the first in-depth analysis of the discourse around 'religion' in modern English family law, and providing unique insight into the way English law struggles with understanding religious commitment and taking religion seriously in decisions about children. It reveals how judges mix up religion, race and ethnicity with sometimes quite surprising results. A must read." – Søren Holm, Professor of Bioethics, School of Law, University of Manchester, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  • Kent Law School, University of Kent, UK

    Suhraiya Jivraj

About the author

Suhraiya Jivraj is a Lecturer in Law at Kent Law School, University of Kent, UK.

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: The Religion of Law

  • Book Subtitle: Race, Citizenship and Children's Belonging

  • Authors: Suhraiya Jivraj

  • Series Title: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137029287

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan London

  • eBook Packages: Palgrave Social Sciences Collection, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Macmillan Publishers Limited 2013

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-137-02927-0Published: 10 September 2013

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-1-137-57431-2Published: 27 November 2015

  • eBook ISBN: 978-1-137-02928-7Published: 10 September 2013

  • Series ISSN: 2947-9274

  • Series E-ISSN: 2947-9282

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XV, 195

  • Topics: Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Back to top

Search

Navigation