Tolerance in the UAE:: Histories and Reflections on Religious Tolerance and the Modern Nation-State

The UAE is hardly alone among modern nations in its struggle to manage religious and social diversity. There is a wealth of academic scholarship exploring the function of the rhetoric of tolerance on the state level and the ways in which modern states implement policies of tolerance to attract acclaim on the international level, facilitate trade, and represent themselves to their populations in a positive, paternalistic fashion. This workshop aims to examine the gap between a body of academic scholarship that considers tolerance historically and the lived experience of religious groups for whom normative aspirations for tolerance have facilitated their social and spiritual existence in the UAE.

Convened by

• Justin Stearns, Associate Professor in Arab Crossroads Studies, NYUAD

Hosted by

• NYU Abu Dhabi Institute