RELIGIOUS PLURALISM, CULTURAL DIFFERENCES, SOCIAL AND INSTITUTIONAL STABILITY: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM INDIA? June 9-10 - Aula Odeion - Museo dell'arte classica

India is not only the largest democracy in the world: it is a laboratory of ideas about democracy. Dealing intensively with citizenship and political rights, Indian scholars have been offering to the social sciences new models and paradigms which should contribute to a better understanding of some major challenges which are affecting European countries. This international Conference stems from an attempt to overcome a Western-centric and Euro-centric approach. It gathers prominent sociologists, historians, lawyers, political scientists, economists, intellectuals, and focuses on the contributions made by Indian scholars, intellectuals, universities and political think-tanks to our understanding of pluralism and complexity (a topic of great importance in contemporary Europe). This conference aims, therefore, to promote the contributions of India to key debates in contemporary Italy and Europe. It is conceived as a tribute to authors, interpretative theories and methodological approaches which today are of key interest to the global scientific debate in the fields of constitutional law issues, sociological analysis, economic policies and visual culture. The first session aims to discuss the contributions of a number of relevant research trends that through historical, sociological and political innovative methodologies, have generated new insights on citizenship, civil society, political participation and social integration. The second session is dedicated to religious pluralism, State secularism and constitutional safeguard of minority groups. In particular, this session is dedicated to the interpretative theories that have been developed through the Supreme Court and the Supreme Courts of the States. These theories have not only made fundamental rights effective and pervasive, but have expanded their scope by adding new dimension to them, which should be regarded as an important contribution to the theory of constitutionalism. The third session will address contemporary issues in the field of political economy, in particular the positions taken by Indian economists on matters of austerity, monetary policy and the welfare state. Finally, the fourth session deals with visual culture as a space of expression and elaboration of social, cultural and political change.