'Christianity on Trial' examines the negotiation of 'Christianity' in asylum processes of religious converts whose claims are based on fear of religious persecution. Dr Lena Rose is funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
This three-year interdisciplinary research project entitled 'Christianity on Trial: Asylum, Conversion, and the Modern Nation-State' (2019-2022) examines the negotiation of ‘Christianity’ through the lens of asylum adjudications of claimants based on the fear of religious persecution following a conversion to Christianity. In these cases, secular judges have to assess the genuineness of the conversion, and risks of practising Christianity in the country of origin of the applicants. This study of case law and ethnographic fieldwork at courts and churches in Germany and the UK explores the tensions between culture, religion, and power in the negotiation of what 'Christianity' is. More information about the project, methods, and participants can be found here.
