Borders, Politics and Theology
Join the Cranmer Community Hour:
Professors Elizabeth Shakman Hurd (Northwestern University, Illinois) and Nick Megoran (Newcastle University) discuss Borders, Politics and Theology with Jolyon Mitchell.
In 1990 there were approximately 10 border walls/fences in the world; today, there are around 100. From Brexit to Trump, the control of international borders has become deeply politicised in the West and we have also witnessed an uptick in border wars. This conversation explores how churches have figured in these deeply divisive debates, how theology might help us move beyond them, and how the study of political theory and political theology come together to illuminate central questions of our time.
Biographies:
Elizabeth Shakman Hurd is Professor of Political Science and Religious Studies at Northwestern University, Illinois. The author of Heaven Has a Wall: Religion, Borders, and the Global United States (Chicago University Press, 2025) her research is on the politics of migration, race, and religion.
Nick Megoran is Professor of Political Geography at Newcastle University. The author of Putting Borders in Their Place: Reimagining International Boundaries (McGill-Queen’s University Press, forthcoming 2027), his research is on international borders and peacemaking.
