Peace Education and Religion: Perspectives, Pedagogy, Policies

Whether formally incorporated into curriculum and teacher training or informally integrated in contexts such as state or NGO initiatives dealing with resolving social, ethnic, and religious conflicts, peace education is increasingly recognized as a critical component in addressing violence in contemporary plural societies. Peace education can constructively undertake a reframing of historical narratives while inspiring practical community activities. An important, but insufficiently studied and theorized aspect of peace education is the role of religion. The challenge to peace education in today's globalized, diverse, mobile, and religiously pluralistic world is to be able to take both complex global and distinctive local situations into account.

The contributions to this integrative collection of essays provide exactly these local and global perspectives on the state of peace education and its relationship to religion across pedagogy and curriculum, state policies, and activism within societies on the front lines of resolving internal conflicts, whether historical or recent, that often reflect aspects of religious identities.

The Editors

Prof. Dr. Marcia Hermansen, Direction of Islamic World Studies at Loyola University Chicago.

Prof. Dr. Ednan Aslan, Head of the Department of Islamic Education at the University of Vienna.

Dr. Evrim Ersan Akkiliç, Department of Islamic Education at the University of Vienna.

Auteur

Prof. Dr. Marcia Hermansen, Direction of Islamic World Studies at Loyola University Chicago.

Prof. Dr. Ednan Aslan, Head of the Department of Islamic Education at the University of Vienna.

Dr. Evrim Ersan Akkiliç, Department of Islamic Education at the University of Vienna.

Texte du rabat

Contrary to the secularization thesis, many societies today are experiencing a revival of religion. Although religion performs different functions in diverse religious communities and in individual lives, in the media and public discourse it is increasingly associated with concepts such as extremism, violence, and fundamentalism. Thus religion is more and more seen as a threat to democratic and secular societies. In public debates religions have often been perceived as being less a solution to the problem of violence and more as being part of the problem. For this reason, religious leaders and organizations are urged to make their potential contributions to world peace transparent and tangible, because a conscious commitment to peace is essential in view of the current global situation. Peace education has always informally been part of a network of socio-political developments, pedagogical aims, historical narratives, and practical community activities. One challenge to peace education in today's globalized, diverse, religiously pluralistic and mobile world is to be able to take both complex global and relevant local situations into account.

Contenu

Perspectives on Peace Education: Theoretical and Theological.- Islam and Peace Education: Theological and Religious Resources.- Pedagogy and Peace Education.- Inter-religious Approaches to Peace Education.- Peace Education: Contexts, Crises, and Case Studies.