Decolonizing religion and the practice of peace: Two case studies from the postcolonial world

Based on extensive field work focused on interreligious peacebuilding practices in Kenya and the Philippines, this article argues that decolonial accounts of peacebuilding, in line with decolonial interventions in the study of religion, remain captive to the task of epistemological undoing and thus...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Critical research on religion
Main Author: Omer, Atalia ca. 20./21. Jh. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage 2020
In: Critical research on religion
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Kenya / Philippines / Postcolonialism / Religion / Peace work
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
KBM Asia
KBN Sub-Saharan Africa
ZC Politics in general
Further subjects:B Religion and international relations
B Coloniality
B religion and violence
B religion and peacebuilding
B Decoloniality
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Based on extensive field work focused on interreligious peacebuilding practices in Kenya and the Philippines, this article argues that decolonial accounts of peacebuilding, in line with decolonial interventions in the study of religion, remain captive to the task of epistemological undoing and thus insufficiently relevant to the precarious lives of many invisibalized people in the global South. The question is whether decolonial thinking in the study of religion and theology should concern itself with such pertinence. I first examine the colonial legacy of “peace” and key features of decolonial interventions in the modernist, civilizational, and developmentalist discourses within which “peace” is embedded. Next, I analyze how interreligious peacebuilding practices both entrench coloniality while improving the lives of people who engage in such practices and how such practices rely on thin or “sticky notes” religiosity, deeply inconsistent with decolonial theologies and religiosity. Finally, I show how, on the ground, mere existence and overcoming hate reside along a spectrum of decolonial politics.
ISSN:2050-3040
Contains:Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/2050303220924111