Call for Proposals

This Group welcomes individual papers and papers session proposals (presider, 3–4 papers, and respondent) on any aspect of the intersection of religion, violence, social conflict, and peace. We are particularly interested in the following topics:

• Religion and sport — sources of violence, paths to peace


• Urban peacemaking initiatives


• Religion and the Arms Trade Treaty


• Religious responses to neoliberalism and/or structural violence


• Climate change, social conflict, and peacemaking


• For a cosponsored session with the Religion, Holocaust, and Genocide Group, possibilities and pitfalls in interfaith activism regarding genocide prevention and/or post-genocide recovery


• For a cosponsored session with the Religion, Sport, and Play Group, a topic to be developed


• For a cosponsored session with the Religion and Cities Group, urban violence, conflict resolution, and peace-building


• For a cosponsored session with the Religion and Politics Section, Contemporary Islam Group, and Interreligious and Interfaith Studies Group, proposals that critically and creatively examine the methodology and impact of different interreligious responses to moments of civic unrest or violence in a religious context

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

Proposer names are anonymous to Chairs and Steering Committee members until after final acceptance or rejection.

Questions?

Megan Shore
University of Western Ontario
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lane Van Ham
University of Arizona
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Method of Submission