Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
New Blog of Note: The Immanent Frame
New Blog of Note: The Immanent Frame
Mar 23, 2026 5:57 AM

A new blog has been added to our blogroll sidebar (along with a much-needed round of housecleaning on old and out-of-date links). Announcement below:

The Social Science Research Council is pleased to announce the launch of The Immanent Frame, a new SSRC blog on secularism, religion, and the public sphere.

The blog is opening with a series of posts on Charles Taylor’s A Secular Age, including recent contributions from Robert Bellah, Wendy Brown, Jose Casanova, Elizabeth Shakman Hurd, and Colin Jager. Robert Bellah has called A Secular Age “one of the most important books to be written in my lifetime,” and there will be more e on Taylor’s major work in the weeks ahead, with posts by Rajeev Bhargava, Akeel Bilgrami, Hent de Vries, Amy Hollywood, Tomoko Masuzawa, Joan Scott, and others. Meanwhile, Charles Taylor himself has just made his own contribution to the already ongoing conversations.

But The Immanent Frame won’t be limited to discussions of A Secular Age. Later this fall we’ll also host a series of posts responding to Mark Lilla’s The Stillborn God: Religion, Politics, and the Modern West. And there will be posts on a variety of other topics too-from pluralism and the “post-secular” to international relations theory, religious freedom, and the future of shari’a.

This new SSRC blog will draw on, and is closely linked to, the Council’s expanding work on religion and the public sphere. We invite readers to email us ments or questions at [email protected].

Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
How real GDP per capita measures standard of living
Note: This is post #72 in a weekly video series on basic economics. If money can’t buy happiness, why do we measure standard of living in economic terms, specifically GDP per capita? A primary reason is that increases in real GDP per capita also correlate to improvements in those things money can’t buy, such as health and happiness. In this video by Marginal Revolution University,Alex Tabarrok explains why it’s a helpful measure—and where it falls short. (If you find the...
The winter of our disconnect: Green energy policies leave Europe out in the cold
“Human beings are called to be fruitful, to bring forth good things from the earth, to join with God in making provision for our temporal well being,” according toThe Cornwall Declaration On Environmental Stewardship,of whichActon Institute co-founder Fr. Robert Sirico was an original signer. “Our call to fruitfulness, therefore, is not contrary to but plementary with our call to steward God’s gifts.” This article about transatlantic policies thatput human well-being into opposition with environmental stewardship, whichappeared in MEP Daniel Hannan’s...
The long road back from Communism
“In 1989, Communismfinally collapsed,” writes Mihail Neamţu, a Romanian thinker and public intellectual, in this week’s Acton Commentary. “On our first official munistChristmas holiday, my family was hoping that the political landscape of Eastern Europe would quickly be shaped by healthy democratic institutions, secure private property and free trade, petition, as well as a robust sense of personal responsibility.” Nearly 20 years later, the anticipated reforms have been abandoned, the economy sputters, and Romanian society remains stubbornly statist: State monopolies...
Mao’s ‘rational faith’: How communist China sought to replace God
In light of Greg Forster’s Acton lecture on Whittaker Chambers, the famous Soviet spy who later converted to Christianity, I recently noted Chambers’ routine reminders munism is not, fundamentally, about a certain menu of economic theories or political tactics. “[Communism] is not just the writings of Marx and Lenin, dialectical materialism, the Politburo, the labor theory of value, the theory of the general strike, the Red Army, the secret police, labor camps, underground conspiracy, the dictatorship of the proletariat, the...
What you need to know: Today’s new Brexit transition agreement
On Monday afternoon, David Davis of the UK and Michel Barnier of the EU revealed that their governments had agreed on the shape of their relationship during the first two years after Brexit. Here’s what it will look like: A 21-month transition period: The UK will officially leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. Monday’s announcement adds a 21-month transition period, which will end on December 31, 2020. During this phase, the UK will enjoy all “thebenefits, the advantages...
What Christians should know about tariffs and balance of trade
Note:This is the latest entry in the Acton blog series, “What Christians Should Know About Economics.” For other entries inthe series seethis post.The purpose of the series is not to present a theology of economics, but simply to provide a basic level of understanding that will help Christians think more clearly about how to apply their mitments to economics and public policy. The Term: Tariffs and Balance of Trade What it Means:Balance of trade is the difference in value over...
What has God got to do with banking and finance?
In the latest edition of The Independent Review, Gerald P. Dwyer Jr. reviews Samuel Gregg’s For God and Profit: How Banking and Finance Can Serve the Common Good. “The most unusual aspect of Gregg’s book is bination of topics advertised in its very title: For God and Profit,” says Dwyer, “We all know about defenses of free markets. God seldom appears in those arguments. What has God got to do with it?” Catholic social teaching is the framework Gregg uses...
How real GDP helps us know if we’re ‘better off’ than before
Note: This is post #71 in a weekly video series on basic economics. “Are you better off today than you were 4 years ago? What about 40 years ago?” These sorts of questions invite a different kind of query, says Alex Tabarrok: what exactly do we mean, when we say “better off?” And more importantly, how do we know if we’re better off or not? To those questions, there’s one figure that can shed at least a partial light: real...
The broom prophet: Lessons from a craftsman on sanctified work
Throughout its history, the American economy has transitioned from agrarian to industrial to information-driven. In turn, “work with the hands” has e less and mon, replaced by widespread automation and a host of intangible services. Meanwhile, a quiet resurgence in craftsmanship has begun, whether one looks to the massive online marketplaces for handmade goods or the diverse range of specialized artisans who continue to find niches in a globalized economy. Take Jack Martin, owner of Hockaday Handmade Brooms, who still...
How managers can help save the world
Why are some countries rich while other countries are poor? A primary reason, as economists have been pointing out for hundreds of years, is productivity—the efficient use of such resources as labor and capital. Imagine that panies have the same number of workers and use the same amount of materials to make identical widgets. pany A is able to make 100 widgets in the time it pany B to produce 50 widgets. Company A obviously has some “secret sauce” that...
Related Classification
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.mreligion.com All Rights Reserved