IIRF published Camila Sánchez Sandoval’s book ‘Religious Freedom in Mexico and Colombia’
(Bonn, 31.07.2025) The International Institute for Religious Freedom (IIRF) has published Camila Sánchez Sandoval’s book ‘Religious Freedom in Mexico and Colombia’, making her innovative and groundbreaking work available in English.
The 170-page book, based on Sánchez’s Ph.D. dissertation at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO-Mexico), rigorously examines two countries where religious freedom often remains limited, despite constitutional provisions and laws that should support it. Her unique approach entails a primary focus not on restrictive factors, as in many studies, but on the political, social, historical, and international determinants of improvements in religious freedom.
“Camila’s empirical knowledge, her experience as a public-policy advisor in both Mexico and Colombia, and her solid methodological work have produced a book that could revolutionize how scholars and activists alike think about advancing religious freedom,” said IIRF international director Dennis Petri, who served as an advisor on Sánchez’s dissertation committee.
Sánchez shows how factors including constitutional change, demands by religious leaders, violations of religious believers’ rights, personal religious adherence of the head of the country, and religious traditions can act as triggers for the expansion of religious freedom in public policy.
To complete her work, Sánchez had to overcome the paucity of previous literature on the topic. “In addition,” she commented, “finding that there is an extensive normative framework for religious freedom in Colombia and Mexico, albeit with limited application, generated much reflection and frustration at times.”
This disconnect between normative framework and practical impact is reflected in Sánchez’s policy recommendations. She calls for (1) defining the problem of religious freedom in such a way as to show why this should be a government concern; (2) establishing clear lines of accountability for the directorates that are responsible for safeguarding religious freedom; and (3) clearer specification of concrete actions to protect religious freedom in public-policy documents on the issue.
This book is the ninth in the IIRF’s series on key topics in religious freedom.
Bibliography
- Camila Andrea Sánchez Sandoval. Religious Freedom in Mexico and Colombia: An Approach to Broadening Categories and Public Policy Actions from a Comparative Public Policy Approach. Religious Freedom Series, Vol. 9. Culture and Science Publishing (VKW): Bonn, 2025. Pb. 170 pp. ISBN 978-3-86269-301-6. 20 Euro.
Downloads and Links
- Download of the book covers: https://iirf.global/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/978-3-86269-301-6.zip
- Website on the book: https://iirf.global/?p=6195
- Website of the book series: https://iirf.global/tag/religious-freedom-series/
- Possibility to order the book: https://vkwonline.com/Religious-Freedom-in-Mexico-and-Colombia
