Building religious freedom by engaging business and civil society institutions

A new paradigm taking economic arguments into account

Abstract

This article reframes efforts to secure freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) by arguing that while rights-based advocacy remains essential – particularly in contexts of religious persecution – it has limited capacity on its own to reverse the global expansion of religious restrictions. A complementary “builder’s approach” emphasizes the role of intermediate actors, such as businesses and civil society institutions, in cultivating FoRB through everyday institutional practices, especially within workplaces. The builder’s approach combines empirical measures of religious restriction with socio-economic incentives to explain how religious inclusion can be operationalized, diffused, and sustained for civic benefit.