Taking Religious and Cultural Pluralism Seriously: The Global Resurgence of Religion and the Transformation of International Society

Abstract

The global resurgence of religion and cultural pluralism in international relations are challenging the Western culture of modernity and the main institutions of international society. From this assumption, the article is focused on the study of: the causes of the global religious resurgence; the genealogy of religion in order to prove that the “Westphalian presumption” is supported by the invention of religion by Western modernity; and, finally, the need to understand the global religious resurgence from a social approach. For this triple purpose, the social theory developed by Alasdair MascIntyre and the Theory of International Society – also called the English School – appear to be suitable tools.