Home Annual Meeting Call for Papers Groups Religions, Social Conflict, and Peace
January 2011

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Call for Proposals

This Group welcomes paper or panel proposals on any topics and regions related to religions, violence, conflict, and peace-building. We have identified four areas of particular interest:

  • Sacred spaces and sanctuaries — zones of peace/zones of conflict? (for a possible cosponsored session with the Space, Place, and Religious Meaning Consultation)
  • Women as peacemakers — the theory and practice of feminist and womanist approaches to peace-building
  • International faith-based versus secular humanitarian/development organizations in the Middle East or comparative contexts (relief, NGOs, missions)
  • Gender/Sexuality and religious violence/peace-building — bullying, DOMA laws, HIV/AIDS, and reconciling communities (for a possible cosponsored session with the Religion and Sexuality Consultation)

Proposals that utilize PowerPoint or other multimedia are encouraged.

Mission

Relationships between religions and the causes and resolution of social conflict are complex. On the one hand, religion is a major source of discord in our world, but on the other, religious agents have often played a central role in developing and encouraging nonviolent means of conflict resolution and sustainable peace. While religion as a factor in conflicts is often misunderstood by military and political leaders, it is also the case that the popular call for an end to injustice is quite often a religious voice. We seek to add a critical dimension to the understanding of how religion influences and resolves social conflict. We want to develop and expand the traditional categories of moral reflection and response to war and also to investigate kindred conflicts — terrorism, humanitarian armed intervention, cultural and governmental repression, ecological degradation, and all of the factors that inhibit human flourishing. We also hope to encourage theoretical and practical reflection on religious peace-building by examining the discourses, practices, and community and institutional structures that promote just peace. Through our work we hope to promote understanding of the relationships between social conflict and religions in ways that are theoretically sophisticated and practically applicable in diverse cultural contexts.

Anonymity of Review Process

Proposals are anonymous to Chairs and Steering Committee Members until after final acceptance or rejection.

Questions?

Jon Pahl
Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia
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Megan Shore
University of Western Ontario
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Method of Submission

 

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