Description
This paper argues that people across the Americas are actively contesting and redefining universal concepts inherited from the liberal international order, particularly the notion of "religious freedom." Rather than examining how governments or international organizations define this concept, I focus on the voices and politics of transnational and regional civil society networks within the Organization of American States (OAS). Can religious freedom be reimagined when defined by those who experience it most directly? Is it possible to frame religious freedom as a human right rooted in decolonial, feminist, ecological, Indigenous, and hemispheric epistemologies? I explore how diverse identity groups—including feminist, Indigenous, Afro-descendant, evangelical, and other religious coalitions—have engaged with and redefined religious freedom from 2018 to 2023 in multilateral spaces of the OAS. Through a decolonial lens, this study reveals how intersecting identities shaped by race, gender, and spirituality contribute to the creation of new political subjects within global governance. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at OAS General Assemblies, the Summit of the Americas, and an interpretive analysis of civil society roles in international organizations, this research presents an innovative perspective on the evolving discourse of religious freedom.
