context of the project.

In this short orientation piece we aim to sketch out some parameters and raise some questions about the idea of the public in relation to the project, before going on to explore the kind of representational strategies we see as encompassed by the concerns of the project. Our first concern is to reflect on the idea of public space in relation to religious identity. As Jose Casanova has indicated, religion is ‘intrinsically connected with the modern historical differentiation of private and public spheres ’ (1994: 40). Even though it is not explicitly invoked in this context, this statement owes much to the seminal work of Jurgen Habermas on the idea of the public sphere as a distinctive feature of Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment modernity. Habermas maps out the public sphere as governed by a kind of civic rationality which developed as a critique of institutional power. In this context, religion is projected as developing into ‘a private matter’, with the freedom of religion being identified as the ‘first sphere of private autonomy ’ (Habermas: 11). This perception of the public sphere as predominantly secular reflects what Calhoun calls Habermas ’ ‘blind spot ’ on religion