The scientific conference "On Conservatism, Liberalism, and Religion"

On November 28th and 29th, an international scientific conference titled "On Conservatism, Liberalism, and Religion" will take place at the University of Latvia (UL), Kalpaka Boulevard 4, in the 2nd-floor hall “Sapere aude”. The conference will focus on the role of religion in today's global challenges. It will explore religion from theological, anthropological, and media perspectives, with a particular emphasis on conservatism/liberalism and their expressions not only within the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia but also more broadly across the world, including topics related to Islam, changes within the Church in Russia, and more. Researchers will examine these issues through the lenses of conservatism, liberalism, and gender equality, discussing the role of religion in society and gender equality in religious contexts.

The conference will be opened by researcher and Professor Christo Lombaard from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, who will explain how we understand religion in the modern world and how two influential religious movements of the 19th and 20th centuries—liberal theology and American fundamentalist theology—have shaped contemporary political views. Throughout both days of the conference, participants will be offered insightful presentations. Additionally, on November 29th, a panel discussion will explore the meaning of conservatism and liberalism today, examining whether and why society is divided on these issues and discussing how the church could better unite society. The panel will include researchers and representatives of religious organizations: Rinalds Grants, Aivita Putniņa, Aleksandrs Bite, and Ģirts Rozners. The discussion will be moderated by Ilva Skulte and Jānis Meļņikovs.

Conference language: English; the final panel discussion will be in Latvian. The conference program is available on the website: www.neokonservativs.lu.lv 

To register for the conference, interested individuals are invited to sign up through the online form.

The conference is organized within the framework of the Latvian Council of Science's Fundamental and Applied Research Program, as part of the 2021 open competition project "Neoconservatism and Gender Experience in Everyday Life and Faith: The Case of Women's (Non) Ordination in the Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church" (project no. lzp-2021/1-0182). The research aims to reduce gender inequality and eliminate discrimination against women in Latvia by offering new, evidence-based interdisciplinary knowledge, while also promoting discussions about the causes of inequality, its mechanisms, and consequences, and analyzing these issues in an international context amidst the rise of neoconservatism.