This November, the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life is co-sponsoring events within the Villa Gillet’s Mode d’Emploi festival. Four representatives from the IRCPL – Director Karen Barkey and Advisory Committee members Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Sudipta Kaviraj, and Nadia Urbinati – will travel to Lyon, France to participate in a series of conversations with other thinkers, artists, and public figures.

Fleur Pellerin, Minister of Culture and Communication, describes the festival as “A place for exchanges, debates, and ideas, at the junction of the arts, literature, and social sciences. From the 17th to the 30th of November, thinkers, scholars, decision-makers, public life figures, and artists will come meet their public, in Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Chambéry or Grenoble, inviting us to question today’s world and put social sciences back at the heart of the civic debate.”

Among the events in which the IRCPL will be participating are:

Public recording of Pierre-Édouard Deldique’s radio show “Idées”
Saturday, Nov 22 – 2:00pm
With: Karen Barkey.
Recording of Pierre-Édouard Deldique’s radio show “Idées” with Avital Ronell.

Philosophy, religions, and tolerance
Sunday, November 23 – 2:30pm
Presented by: Olivier Pascal Moussellard.  With: Adrien Candiard, Souleymane Bachir Diagne, and Sudipta Kaviraj.
In partnership with The Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life (Columbia University, New York) and La Maleta de Portbou. In collaboration with les Presses Universitaires de France.
Ideals of tolerance, generosity, and love often animate religions. Yet some believers, in the name of laws they consider as divine, can display vehement intolerance towards those who do not share their ethical beliefs and ideals. Isn’t this a contradiction? Is religious fervor compatible with tolerance and ethical diversity?
This dialogue will take place within the framework of an extensive international research program initiated by the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life (Columbia University), centering on tolerance and its various models across times and cultures.

The New Multi-Ethnic Spaces
Monday, November 24 – 5:00pm
Presented by: Fabrice Balanche.  With: Karen Barkey.
The Institut d’Études Politiques of Lyon and the Maison de l’Orient et de la Méditerranée (laboratoire GREMMO) are invinting the sociologist and historian Karen Barkey (USA). A dialogue presented by Fabrice Balanche (Gremmo / Université Lumière Lyon 2).

Religious tolerance: a foundation of democracy?
Tuesday, November 25 – 2:00pm
With: Karen Barkey and Nadia Urbinati.
Roger Martin du Gard multimedia library in Saint-Fons is inviting the historian Karen Barkey (USA) and the political specialist Nadia Urbinati (IT/USA).
A dialogue designed in collaboration with a class from the high school Les Chassagnes (Oullins).

Living in a plural society: politics, minorities, and religious diversity
Tuesday, November 25 – 8:30pm
In partnership with The Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life (Columbia University, New York) and La Maleta de Portbou. In collaboration with Libération.
Presented by: Marc Semo. With: Karen Barkey, Esther Benbassa, Sudipta Kaviraj, and Nadia Urbinati.
What is tolerance? Does it mean respecting differences, does it refer to the absence of persecution of minorities or the promotion of the wealth that a plural society provides? Should political institutions be the ones to organize it, or should responsibility rather be placed on the level of individual practices? Which role should we give to the religious within a multicultural society?
This dialogue will happen within the framework of a vast international research program initiated by the Institute for Religion, Culture & Public Life (Columbia University), centering on tolerance and its various models across times and cultures.

More information about Mode d’Emploi is available at villagillet.net. Download the complete festival program (in French) here.

Audio recordings and publications associated with this event are now available here.