Introductory Thoughts about Peace, Politics and Religion

Recent years have seen a growing literature on the interactions between peace, politics and religion, including their diverse and often complex relationships. Underpinning this literature is an increase, more generally, in scholarly and policy interest in connections between religion and politics. T...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jeffrey Haynes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-05-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/5/242
_version_ 1797568177916346368
author Jeffrey Haynes
author_facet Jeffrey Haynes
author_sort Jeffrey Haynes
collection DOAJ
description Recent years have seen a growing literature on the interactions between peace, politics and religion, including their diverse and often complex relationships. Underpinning this literature is an increase, more generally, in scholarly and policy interest in connections between religion and politics. The context is that over the last three decades, religion has made a remarkable return to prominence in various academic literatures, including sociology, political science and international relations. This was a surprise to many social scientists and confounded the expectations of both secularization theorists and secularists. In addition, religion retained a strong, some say growing, significance as a core source of identity for billions of people around the world. Numerous religious leaders and faith-based organizations are important carriers and focal points of religious ideas, playing an important role in many countries, both developed and developing, as well as internationally, including at the United Nations and to a lesser, although still notable extent, in the European Union and other regional organizations. This introductory article examines interactions between religious entities in relation to peace and conflict and sets the scene for the articles comprising this volume.
first_indexed 2024-03-10T19:52:45Z
format Article
id doaj.art-991f0d62f4fe44e8afcdee2a9c5062b9
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2077-1444
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-10T19:52:45Z
publishDate 2020-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Religions
spelling doaj.art-991f0d62f4fe44e8afcdee2a9c5062b92023-11-20T00:16:04ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442020-05-0111524210.3390/rel11050242Introductory Thoughts about Peace, Politics and ReligionJeffrey Haynes0School of Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University, London N7 8DB, UKRecent years have seen a growing literature on the interactions between peace, politics and religion, including their diverse and often complex relationships. Underpinning this literature is an increase, more generally, in scholarly and policy interest in connections between religion and politics. The context is that over the last three decades, religion has made a remarkable return to prominence in various academic literatures, including sociology, political science and international relations. This was a surprise to many social scientists and confounded the expectations of both secularization theorists and secularists. In addition, religion retained a strong, some say growing, significance as a core source of identity for billions of people around the world. Numerous religious leaders and faith-based organizations are important carriers and focal points of religious ideas, playing an important role in many countries, both developed and developing, as well as internationally, including at the United Nations and to a lesser, although still notable extent, in the European Union and other regional organizations. This introductory article examines interactions between religious entities in relation to peace and conflict and sets the scene for the articles comprising this volume.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/5/242peacepoliticsconflictreligionfaithfaith-based organizations
spellingShingle Jeffrey Haynes
Introductory Thoughts about Peace, Politics and Religion
Religions
peace
politics
conflict
religion
faith
faith-based organizations
title Introductory Thoughts about Peace, Politics and Religion
title_full Introductory Thoughts about Peace, Politics and Religion
title_fullStr Introductory Thoughts about Peace, Politics and Religion
title_full_unstemmed Introductory Thoughts about Peace, Politics and Religion
title_short Introductory Thoughts about Peace, Politics and Religion
title_sort introductory thoughts about peace politics and religion
topic peace
politics
conflict
religion
faith
faith-based organizations
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/11/5/242
work_keys_str_mv AT jeffreyhaynes introductorythoughtsaboutpeacepoliticsandreligion