Ashgate Research Companion to Religion and Conflict Resolution

Lee Marsden, University of East Anglia, UK

’Offers a fascinating perspective on religion and conflict resolution that moves beyond the "religion as the problem" approach more typical of international relations scholars. Instead the authors draw on what religious traditions have to say about peace, whilst critically exploring the limits of religious peacebuilding. Provides invaluable resources for students seeking to understand religion and politics but should also stimulate new research.’ John Anderson, University of St Andrews, UK ’Impressive in both its depth and breadth, this book underscores the critical importance of religion in international affairs generally and in conflict resolution specifically. It adopts a needed interdisciplinary approach and makes a valuable contribution to the nascent but fast-growing field of religion and security.’ Dennis R. Hoover, The Institute for Global Engagement, USA and The Review of Faith & International Affairs 'Unlike the often messy and protracted roles attributed to (or performed by) religion within social conflicts, this collection of essays is engaging, refreshingly diverse and nuanced. It manages to be wide-ranging and helpfully concrete in its scope looking at conflict and peace within the major world religions, within specific case studies (Zimbabwe, Northern Ireland, South Africa, Nigeria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, among others), among key political figures and peace organizations (Gandhi, Pax Christi, Jimmy Carter); and within indispensable thematic topics like just war theory, women and peacemaking, pacifism, and forgiveness and conflict.... A key strength of the book is the highly nuanced (and multiperspectival) approach the authors take to topics deserving a volume (at least) on its own. Readers will appreciate such nuance... The book joins a select list of exemplary works for graduate students and scholars integrating nuanced presentations of religion and international affairs...' Reviews in Religion & Theology This volume will provide exce

• 1: Religion and Conflict Resolution: An Introduction; I: Religious Traditions and Conflict; 2: Islam and Peacebuilding: The Gülen Movement in Global Action; 3: Christian Claims of Uniqueness, the Problem of Violence and Interfaith Dialogue; 4: Peace and Conflict in the Jewish Tradition; 5: Hindu Teaching on Conflict and Peacemaking; 6: Conflict and Peace in Buddhism; II: Key Debates on Religious Conflict Resolution; 7: Religion, Secular Democracy and Conflict Resolution in Zimbabwe; 8: Conflict Resolution and Religious Dimensions of Armed Conflicts; 9: Women, Religion and Peacebuilding; 10: Religious Fundamentalism and Conflict; III: Religion, International Relations and Security; 11: Just War Theory, Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow; 12: Pacifism, Religion, and Conflict; 13: Idealism at Home and Abroad: Muhammad Khatami's Utopian Quest for a Better World; 14: Is Promoting Religious Freedom Dangerous?; IV: Religion and Conflict Resolution; 15: Religions Hard and Soft 1; 16: Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Northern Ireland: The Clonard-Fitzroy Fellowship 1; 17: Christianity and South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission 1; 18: Faith-based Peace-building in Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Case of Islamic Leadership; 19: Community-based Pedagogies, Religion and Conflict Resolution in Kaduna, Nigeria; V: The Peacemakers; 20: Mohandas Gandhi; 21: Catholic Peacemaking and Pax Christi; 22: Jimmy Carter: A Man of Political Destiny, A Man of Theological Certitude; 23: It's Not About Religion. And Yet …