New book: Jianlin Chen on The Law and Religious Market Theory (CUP)

The Law and Religious Market Theory: China, Taiwan and Hong Kong
Jianlin Chen
Cambridge University Press
September 2017

Description: With comparative case studies from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, Jianlin Chen's new work offers a fresh, descriptive and normative perspective on law and religion. This presentation of the original Law and Religious Market Theory employs an interdisciplinary approach that sheds light on this subject for scholars in legal and sociological disciplines. It sets out the precise nature of religious competition envisaged by the current legal regimes in the three jurisdictions and analyses how certain restrictions on religious practices may facilitate normatively desirable market dynamics. This updated and invaluable resource provides a new and insightful investigation into this fascinating area of law and religion in Greater China today.

Articles in the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion

Oxford Journal of Law and Religion

Vol. 3, Issue 3, October 2014

"Pluralism, Religion, and the Moral Fairness of International Law"

James Fry, pp 393-418

Abstract: This article criticizes Thomas Franck’s theory of moral fairness for refusing a possible voice for religion in the fairness discourse. After deconstructing the theory and explaining its relationship to Rawls's notion of overlapping consensus, this article explores how religion plays a role with the implementation of international law. This article concludes by observing how the current inclusion of religion at the implementation stage injects a measure of regionalism and pluralism into the discourse. Such regionalism and pluralism alleviate the tension between universalism and localism associated with globalization and improve social stability throughout the world.

"Religious Exemptions in England"

Ernest Lim, pp 440-461

Abstract: This article argues that there are key issues comprising theoretical and institutional matters arising from the questions of whether courts should exempt religious conduct from laws of general applicability, and how courts should strike the balance between religious freedom and equality policies, which proponents of religious exemptions have neglected and it suggests ways in which these issues may be addressed.