Our research topics are linked to the four research questions outlined above. The research on these topics will be organised by creating at least two Collaborative Research Projects (CRP) for each topic. The CRPs will work together in closer networks within the entire project network.
1. RELIGION IN CONFLICTS AND POST-CONFLICT SOCIETIES: CASE STUDIES
The case studies will provide the empirical basis for the bulk of our analysis, and for developing our framework for understanding the role of religion in post-conflict contexts. The case studies will be chosen in order to gain the broadest possible perspectives, including examples from the so-called world religions (Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity), some indigenous and some new religions, such as Baha’i or the AUM. The case studies will include intra-religious and inter-religious conflicts, and will have a wide geographical sweep ranging from Northern Ireland, Southeast Europe, the reconciliation processes in Europe, Turkey, and Japan after World War II, and post-dictatorship and post-genocide reconciliation processes. Special attention will be paid to the issue of memory and its healing as well as of the culture of commemoration. Questions of trauma and forgiveness will be addressed by psychologists. All case studies will be directed by social scientists using empirical and ethnographic methods. They will work closely with scholars of religion and history who will examine the religious ideas that are dominant amongst religious actors in each case.
2. THEOLOGICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON RELIGION, VIOLENCE AND RECONCILIATION
This aspect of the research will examine various religions from theological and philosophical perspectives. It will be concerned with analysing core texts, doctrines and theologies from these religions with a view to evaluating their potential to contribute to violence or reconciliation. It also will examine the relationship between religious ideas and the rites, rituals and traditions of various religions. This aspect of the work will be carried out by scholars in theology and religious studies.
3. THE REPRESENTATION OF RELIGION IN CONFLICT
This research will examine how religions are portrayed in the public sphere in post-conflict contexts, including the media, educational resources, and other sources. It will gather empirical data about the extent that religions are portrayed either as agents of violence or of peace, and formulate normative questions about how these portrayals may help or hinder reconciliation processes. This research will be carried out by social scientists and experts for interpretation and ethics of media, literature and art. They will draw on existing literature and new case studies.
4. DEVELOPING THEORIES AND CONCEPTS OF RECONCILIATION
There is a need for greater clarification and systemisation of theories of reconciliation and its connection to violence, conflict and peace. Particular attention must be paid to developing a deeper understanding of how reconciliation can be used as a concept in the social sciences. This includes careful attention to current debates about different types of reconciliation, including social, political, theological, and individual reconciliation. This work will be mainly carried out by scholars interested in general theories in the social sciences and in philosophy.
In Sum, we see these trans-disciplinary research topics as interdependent and as crucial to helping to construct an adequate framework for understanding the role of religion in conflict and post-conflict contexts.
