On the first Monday of February 2022, the Supreme Court reinstated an Alabama congressional map that a lower court had argued diluted the power of Black voters and was a threat to equal representation for all communities. These type of challenges, court cases, and state laws are on the rise and the question of the access to the franchise to all eligible voters has come under great scrutiny during the last couple of election cycles. Who gets to vote? When do voters have opportunity and access to vote? How have and how do electoral maps shape policies, elections, and the future of the US democracy? What roles have religious organizations and emerging activists groups played in bolstering or challenging the dilution of voting rights/access across the country? There has been considerable scholarly and public attention given to the ways that religious institutions and ideologies have impacted and continue to impact the mobilization of voters and political activitsts across the country. In this episode of Religion &, we will address the long history of the Voting Rights Act and voter suppression, the relationship of religious and civil rights organizations to this act, and how current communities and activists are deploying language, protest, and direct engagement in order to re-imagine and transform the possibilities of democratic participation. Join humanities and social science scholars for a conversation at the intersection of religion, voting rights, and competing visions of democracy.
Author
The Center for the Study of Religion and American CultureInstitution
K-12, Community College, Public College or University, Private College or University, Seminary Institution Type
Video Resource Type
Intro, Undergraduate Course Class Type
2022 Date Published
Religious Studies, American Studies, Anthropology, Area Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Political Science, Sociology, The Arts, Theology, Women's Studies, Other Discipline
Atheism/Agnosticism/Skepticism, Buddhism, Catholic, General Comparative Traditions, Hinduism, Indigenous, Islam, Judaism, New Religious Movements, Other Christianities, Other Traditions, Protestant Religous Tradition
Business/Capitalism/Labor, Class/Power, Empire/Foreign Policy/Globalism, Family/Children/Reproduction, Gender/Women/ Sexuality, Health/Death, Immigration/Refugees, Politics/Law/Government, Popular Culture/Media/Music/Sports, Pluralism/Secularism/Culture Wars, Race/Ethnicity, Region/Urban/Rural, Nationalism/War/Civil Religion, Science/Technology/Environment Topics