As proof of concept for a bigger project about the urbanising content of human rights in international and comparative constitutional law, during my recent sabbatical I wrote two articles, focussing respectively on a socio-economic and civil right, looking at shifts in understandings of rights that can be related to invocation in, against and by cities.
Having recently announced the publication of the socio-economic right article (on the right to health), I can now add that “Transforming the Right to Religious Freedom in and Through Cities” has just appeared in advance online (and open access) form in the Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights.
To paraphrase its abstract, the article focuses on hyper-diverse Western European cities, explains how religious belief is manifested in urban space, critically discusses the European Court on Human Rights’ religious freedom case law and engages examples of more pragmatic, positive, and inclusive understandings of the right emerging through everyday urban governance.
I wrote a first draft during my stint as visiting academic at UCL Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism and remain very grateful for the vibrant public law community that I found there.
Marius Pieterse 