Before Recognition: How the Politics of Religion Shaped the International Order

Description: At a moment when “religion” is routinely invoked to explain conflict, governance, and global order, Before Recognition asks a more fundamental question: how did religion come to be seen as a distinct and legible category in world politics in the first place? In this book talk, Maria Birnbaum traces the historical and conceptual conditions that made religion governable, showing that its recognition has never been neutral, but deeply entangled with projects of power. Drawing on the interconnected imperial histories of British India and Mandate Palestine, Birnbaum examines how colonial and anti-colonial actors alike shaped the politics of religious difference—reconfiguring minority rights, representation, and borders in ways that continue to structure the postcolonial states of Pakistan and Israel. By situating contemporary debates within these longer genealogies, the talk offers a provocative rethinking of the epistemic foundations of international relations. Bringing together insights from political theory, history, and global politics, Before Recognition challenges audiences to reconsider what is at stake when religion is named, categorized, and governed—and why these processes matter for understanding sovereignty and political order today.

Bio: Maria Birnbaum is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Basel and a Senior Researcher at swisspeace. Working in the fields of Global Politics, Social and Political Theory, Religious Studies, and Colonial History, her research examines the relationship between diversity and order with a particular focus on religion and politics. She also teaches and writes on the politics and history of knowledge and non-knowledge, as well as conceptual history. She is the author of Before Recognition. How the Politics of Religion Shaped the International Order (Cambridge University Press, 2026); The Costs of Recognition (International Theory), Entangled Empire (Millennium), and Recognizing Diversity in the edited volume Culture and Order in World Politics, winner of the ISA Theory Section Prize for the Best Edited Book.

Registration: https://forms.office.com/e/3YYnU0hHWV?origin=lprLink

Wednesday, May 6th, 2026, from: 4:00 to 6:00 pm
Université libre de Bruxelles
Institut d’études européennes, Kant Room
39 avenue Franklin Roosevelt, 1050 Bruxelles