A Post-Communist Triple Helix: University, State, And Church
Author(s):
Liviu Andreescu
Conference:
ECER 2010
Network:
23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Format:
Paper

Session Information

23 SES 03 A, Religion and Education II

Paper Session

Time:
2010-08-25
14:00-15:30
Room:
M.B. SALI 5, Päärakennus / Main Building
Chair:
Risto Rinne

Contribution

This contribution looks at the relationship between the development of church-state relations in post-communist Romania and its impact on higher education. A survey of the rapprochement between higher education and religious actors serves as a background in the exploration of two main issues. First, instances of systematic religious discrimination in Romanian higher education. Secondly, the growth of academic theology over the past 20 years, particularly as an essential arm of (some) churches' involvement in public life. In this second section, the contribution examines questions such as the organization of academic theology, the relationship between the churches and faculties of theology, the relations between academic theology and religious education in primary and secondary schools. A number of proposals are offered on how universities could better cope with religious diversity and specific church-state issues; as well as with respect to the (re)organization of academic theology in this country.

Method

We rely primarily on literature concerning church-state relations and religious policy, including models developed specifically with Central and Eastern Europe in mind. We provide a discussion of the organization of higher education in Romania from a broader organizational perspective; and of the status of religious education from a legal-normative perspective. We use general statistics on education, case studies, and interviews, and in the case of academic theology some comparative analyses involving countries / HE systems in Central Europe.

Expected Outcomes

We conclude, among others, that (a) religion has penetrated Romanian higher education to a remarkable degree, both at an organizational and at a symbolic level; (b) many Romanian universities are routinely involved in a practices which discriminate on the basis of religion, and that academic policies in this field are completely absent; (c) the organization of academic theology is incompatible with current academic freedom and university autonomy standards in Romanian HE; (d) academic theology has been systematically linked to religious education in public schools and, indeed, was specifically designed to support the latter.

References

Glanzer, P. "Religion, Education and the State in Post-Communist Europe: Making Sense of the Diversity of New Church-State Practices," Comparative Education 53 (2009) Maktusov, I.K. "Theology in Higher Education in Post-Communist Russia (1991-2008)," Journal of Religion in Europe 1 (2008) Sagberg, S. "Understanding theology: Philosophical and ethical concerns about theology and religious education", in Peter Schreiner et al., eds., Religious Education and Christian Theologies: Some European Perspectives (New York & Berlin: Waxmann, 2007) Stan, L. and L. Turcescu, Religion and Politics in Post-communist Romania (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007)

Author Information

Liviu Andreescu
Solidarity for Freedom of Conscience; Spiru Haret University, Bucharest
Bucharest

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