This was a very special week for me.

I finally published the last article in an academic journal directly derived from my PhD dissertation, The Specific Vulnerability of Religious Minorities, which I successfully defended at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in 2020 and published by IIRF/VKW in 2021.

Because I was an external candidate and engaged in other work, my dissertation took nearly eight years to complete. However, it was deeply informed by the trips and interviews I conducted while consulting for various development and international organizations.

Some of the insights I gained during that time found their way into the introductory article for a special issue of the International Journal for Religious Freedom, which I co-edited with my dissertation supervisor, Prof. Dr. Govert Buijs.

With great satisfaction, I can now say I have fully “milked the cow” of my dissertation. This is a good time to provide an overview of the academic contributions that emerged from it.

Addressing Skepticism About Religious Freedom in Latin America

My dissertation is essentially a response to skeptics who dismiss the presence of significant religious freedom challenges in Latin America.

While acknowledging the region’s various problems, these skeptics argue that religious freedom violations are not a concern because the continent is largely democratic and increasingly religiously pluralistic. In the introduction to my thesis, I challenge these assumptions and argue that religious freedom violations in Latin America have been largely overlooked due to the use of inadequate analytical lenses. I propose that by shifting the focus to the vulnerabilities of religious minorities, many previously undetected threats can be revealed.

This is particularly true for threats arising from behaviors inspired by religious convictions, as most studies on religious freedom focus too narrowly on religious identity rather than on the consequences of religious practice.

Evaluating Religious Freedom Datasets

To identify gaps in existing scholarship on religious freedom in Latin America, I conducted a critical review of religious freedom datasets. This was an area I had already been working on for some time, which provided me with useful firsthand insights. Between 2011 and 2016, I was involved in the methodological overhaul of Open Doors’ World Watch List, working with Dr. Ronald Boyd-MacMillan, Frans Veerman and then IIRF co-director Prof. Dr. Christof Sauer. In 2015, I had the opportunity to be a visiting scholar at the Religion and State Project at Bar-Ilan University with Prof. Dr. Jonathan Fox, who later became my dissertation co-supervisor. I developed my reflections on religious freedom datasets in an article for the Review of Faith & International Affairs, which I cheekily titled The Tyranny of Religious Freedom Rankings, where I critique how these rankings are used by academics and policymakers.

The evaluation of religious freedom datasets is an area I continue to work on. My main conclusion is that while existing FoRB (Freedom of Religion or Belief) datasets provide valuable insights and have their place, they also have significant limitations. Currently, at the IIRF, we are undertaking two major data collection efforts: the Global Religious Freedom Index (an update and expansion of the RAS Project) and the Violent Incidents Database. Both initiatives aim to address some of the shortcomings I have identified over the years, although they, too, have their own weaknesses.

Developing the Religious Minorities Vulnerability Assessment Tool (RM-VAT)

To shed light on the undetected religious freedom violations I observed in Latin America, I developed a new framework inspired by the human securityparadigm: the Religious Minorities Vulnerability Assessment Tool (RM-VAT). This tool operationalizes the concept of vulnerability. The literature reviewthat shaped this framework was published in the International Journal for Religious Freedom (IJRF).

The RM-VAT consists of three sub-assessments: the Vulnerability Assessment, the Specificity Assessment, and the Resilience Assessment. Each of these was explored in separate IJRF articles. The Vulnerability Assessment applies the human security framework to collect data on threats against religious minorities. It incorporates the Kuyperian vision of sphere sovereignty, which I use as an organizing principle to categorize religious freedom violations. I had previously developed this reflection in collaboration with Frans Visscher in an article for Philosophia Reformata.

Before beginning my dissertation, I had already experimented with vulnerability assessments, conducting assessments on Syria and the Central African Republic in 2013. I am particularly proud that my Syria report even reached Angela Merkel.

The Specificity Assessment examines the uniqueness of threats faced by religious minorities. I developed this approach after realizing that, in the absence of comparative data, it is often impossible — and unnecessary — to determine whether a religious minority suffers more than other groups. What matters is establishing whether the threats faced by a religious minority have a degree of specificity to that group, even if similar threats affect others.

The Resilience Assessment focuses on the coping mechanisms of religious minorities, identifying where these mechanisms exist and where they are underdeveloped.

Case Studies: Religious Minorities in Latin America

My dissertation includes three case studies on religious minorities in Latin America. Each applies the RM-VAT, providing additional empirical data and generating new conceptual insights. My first case study examines how actively practicing Christians in Nuevo León, Tamaulipas, and San Luis Potosíexperience vulnerability due to criminal violence. My work centered on the first two states, but because I was born in the latter, I felt it was important to also mention it. One key finding, which I first presented at the International Studies Association and then published in the IJRF, is that non-state actors(such as crime syndicates) often assume state-like regulatory roles over religion, similar to governments.

Another contribution involves distinguishing between religious identity and religious behavior. My research, published in the Human Rights Quarterlywith Prof. Dr. Marlies Glasius, who had been co-supervisor during the first part of my dissertation, shows that criminal organizations in northeastern Mexico are largely indifferent to religious identity, but they perceive religiously motivated behavior — such as youth outreach programs, human rights advocacy, and migrant assistance — as a direct threat to their interests.

The interface of religion and organized crime is a theme I plan to explore in a future book.

My second case study focuses on Nasa converts to Christianity in southwestern Colombia who wish to maintain their indigenous identity while changing their religious affiliation. It was published in the IJRF. In 2023, I also had the opportunity, together with my colleagues Teresa Flores, Marcela Bordón, Rossana Muga and Jason Klocek to publish a study that was commissioned by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom that provides a comprehensive overview of the religious freedom situation of indigenous communities in Latin America. One of the key insights of this report is the distinction between external and internal threats, with the internal type being completely overlooked. I later expanded on this in an article co-authored with Prof. Dr. Jason Klocek for Religions.

My final case study explores how the Cuban government employs subtle, often masked, mechanisms of repression against Christians. It was published in the Evangelical Review of Theology.

Broader Impact

Working on my dissertation was a transformative experience that continues to influence my teaching, conferences, and various policy interventions. Beyond academia, my research has informed policy reports, including the Truro Report(United Kingdom), the German government’s third Religious Freedom Report, the US State Department’s International Religious Freedom Reports, and various reports of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on FoRB. I have also presented my findings at hearings before the US Congress (2015), the House of Representatives of Mexico (2015), the House of Lords in the United Kingdom (2017) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (2022).

Perhaps most importantly, my dissertation provided the framework for establishing the Observatory of Religious Freedom in Latin America (formally launched in 2018). This experience ultimately led to my recruitment by Prof. Dr. Thomas Schirrmacher, Prof. Dr. Christof Sauer and Prof. Dr. Janet Epp Buckingham as International Director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom.