The relations between religions and laws, whether the latter are based on religious or secular principles, vary between cultures and have changed through history. Since these relations are dynamic and mirror power and gender hierarchies, they have often been dramatic, and not infrequently violent. Religious ideas can inspire as well as contradict law; laws can support or circumscribe religion. In relation to justice, religious power and public laws can be supportive or obstructive, promote it or undermine it. Religion, law, and justice denote three of the most important perspectives through which history can be interpreted and the contemporary world problematized. The seven essays in this volume exemplify a selection of approaches to the analysis of these three factors.
