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Anders Berg-Sørensen is Associate Professor in Political Theory. He is interested in questions of democratic hope and despair.

He has over the last decade done research on the contestation of the religion-politics relationship in European public discourse and political thinking historically and actually. The focus has been on the political doctrine of secularism regulating the religion-politics relationship, the formation of secularism in early modern political thought and the transformation of secularism in contemporary political theory. He is claiming a shift from a critique of secularism to a critical secularism.

Furthermore, he is carrying out research on political ethics and real politics engaging democratic theory and political theory of realism. He is currently working on a book manuscript with the preliminary title, Light and darkness in European post-war government: Democratic compromises of legitimacy, accountability and transparency. The project brings together the literature on compromises in democratic theory and the political history of democratic institutions constituted in post-war Europe with the aim at controlling the governments’ exercise of power. The focal point is the political negotiations of democratic principles of accountability and transparency in government in relation to x) the various constitutional revisions in the immediate wake of the second world war influenced by the then contemporary human rights discourse and y) the establishment of then new political institutions of democratic control with public authorities and the gradual changes of these institutions. The crucial questions are if, how, and to what degree compromises are made in these political negotiations, and whether this has had implications for the democratic legitimacy of governments and the political institutions of democratic control.

Selected publications

1. Published

   'Submission': Ambiguity, hypocrisy and misanthropy in Michel Houellebecq's imaginary politics

   Berg-Sørensen, A., 10 May 2017, In : Journal of Political Ideologies. 22, 2, p. 131-146 16 p., 2.

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

2. Published

   The Political Rhetoric of Administrative Ethics: Obama vs. the Cynics

   Berg-Sørensen, A., 2017, Sincerity in Politics and International Relations. Baiasu, S. & Loriaux, S. (eds.). Abingdon, Oxon; N.Y.: Routledge, p. 77-91 15 p. (Routledge Advances in International Relations and Global Politics).

   Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

3. Published

   Reawakening Enlightenment? Contesting Religion and Politics in European Public Discourse

   Berg-Sørensen, A., 2014, Transformations of Religion and the Public Sphere: Postsecular Publics. Braidotti, R., Blaagaard, B., de Graauw, T. & Midden, E. (eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, p. 35-52 18 p. (Palgrave Politics of Identity and Citizenship Series).

   Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

4. Published

   Contesting Secularism

   Berg-Sørensen, A., 2013, Contesting Secularism: Comparative Perspectives. Berg-Sørensen, A. (ed.). Farnham: Ashgate, p. 1-13 14 p. (Ashgate AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Series).

   Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review

5. Published

   Contesting Secularism: Comparative Perspectives

   Berg-Sørensen, A. (ed.), 2013, Farnham: Ashgate. 262 p. (Ashgate AHRC/ESRC Religion and Society Series).

   Research output: Book/Report › Anthology › Research › peer-review

6. Published

   The Politics of Lutheran Secularism: Reiterating Securalism in the Wake of the Cartoon Crisis

   Berg-Sørensen, A., 2010, Religion in the 21st century: Challenges, transformations. Christoffersen, L., Iversen, H. R., Petersen, H. & Warburg, M. (eds.). Farnham: Ashgate, p. 207-214 8 p.

   Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research

7. Published

   Cultural governance, democratic iterations and the question of secularism: the French headscarf affair

   Berg-Sørensen, A., 2006, In : Nordic Journal of Religion and Society. 18, 2, p. 57-74

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

8. Published

   Politicising religions

   Berg-Sørensen, A., 2006, In : Political Theory. 34, 6, p. 800-806

   Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review