Broken Harmonies: Religious Leaders as Peacebuilders in Post-Conflict Societies
(2017) Religion & Politics in the Crisis of Engagement
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- When discussed in the context of conflicts, religion is often met with suspicion. It is argued that religious narratives, symbols, and teachings tend to deepen existing divisions, make negotiations and settlements more difficult, and catalyze violence. The underlying caution gets substantiated in light of empirical data which suggest that a significant percentage of conflicts involves religious elements. At the same time, a number of cross-national empirical studies suggest that religion can be engaged positively "as a part of a solution" precisely because it was often perceived as "a part of a problem." The data suggest that religion-based actors are particularly effective in the resolutions of conflicts which already had religious components. Thus the positive potential of religion in peacebuilding and conflict-resolution is more resonant when religious traditions, which are substantial components of personal and group identities and an integral element of past and present conflicts, are being seriously engaged as dialogue partners. This paper will analyze the comparative advantages that religions (as systems) and religious leaders (as actors) could have in the transformation of inter-group divisions, and peacebuilding. The focus will be placed on three interconnected aspects: the psychological aspect (development of positive emotions, primarily hope), the sociological aspect (promotion of inclusive identities and tolerance), and the political aspect (moral mediation). The paper will is based on empirical data collected in 2015 and 2016, during two waves of interviews with Christian and Muslim religious leaders in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Odak, S. (2017). Broken Harmonies: Religious Leaders as Peacebuilders in Post-Conflict Societies. Religion & Politics in the Crisis of Engagement. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/125783