Recently, Sohail Wahedi, assistant professor in the Sociology, Theory and Methodology department (STeM) at Erasmus School of Law, has received the VWR dissertation prize 2021 for his doctoral thesis The Constitutional Dynamics of Religious Manifestations: On Abstraction from the Religious Dimension. Once every two years, the WVR-dissertation prize is awarded to the best dissertation defended in legal theory in the Netherlands or Belgium.
In his dissertation, Wahedi answers whether 'religion', should be an exception within the law, solely because it is religion. He focuses on the relationship between law and religion within liberal democracies and examines whether it is legally possible and desirable to protect religious groups in their rights or to restrict the exercise of their rights.
People’s choices
Wahedi investigated this based on his particular interest in choices that people make to give meaning to their lives. These choices sometimes clash with existing legislation or the (legal) sense of (a part of) society. This may include people's choice of clothing (wanting to cover their head or face), preserving old traditions (such as male circumcision) or the choice to eat food according to specific dietary laws. Wahedi: “The clashes that are sometimes caused by the choices that people make based on religion raise fascinating questions about the constitutional protection of religious practices.” Wahedi has researched this protection in his dissertation.
Exactly right
The jury consisted of Ton Hol (chairman), Jogchum Vrielink and Pauline Westerman. The jury praised Wahedi for how he manages to find a balance between theory and concrete issues surrounding religion.
The jury was also pleased with the technical quality of the research: “According to the jury, the thesis is a very successful example of how legal theoretical insights can contribute to clarification and reflection on the chosen subject. The author manages to find a nice balance between general theory and specific problems without one of the two being made subordinate to the other.”
Asset to the social debate
During his research, Wahedi regularly spoke at international conferences and shared his research results with professionals. He also presented his findings to a broader audience through publications in national newspapers and lectures for associations. His research into the relationship between law and religion can count on a great deal of interest from society and the research field in which he operates. This interest partly formed the basis of a research grant he received in 2020 from the Niels Stensen Foundation to conduct fundamental research at the University of Toronto.
The jury of the VWR dissertation prize also underlines the scope of Wahedi's research: "The author knows how to reach different audiences and how to enrich the social debate through various publication channels as well as through his clear language use."
Justification of special status
The main question of the debate is how special protection of religion can be justified in law. Wahedi concludes that this cannot be justified. This does not mean that religion should not be protected or that it should be actively opposed. Other fundamental rights such as freedom of expression and association can adequately protect religion.
- Assistant professor