Browsing by discipline "Religion, Conflict and Dialogue"

This study is a descriptive account and analysis of the ideas and arguments of Canadian philosopher James K. A. Smith (1970 - ) in regard to religion and the secular. Using Smith’s published texts, the study examines some of the problems he sees with these concepts from different subfields of philosophy and evaluates Smith’s proposed solutions. The study begins with a discursive overview of the issues scholars face in the study of religion and the secular. Next, the study examines Smith’s engagement with theological traditions and postmodern thought to critique the epistemology and ontology of the secular, followed by Smith’s articulation of a “liturgical” anthropology as a model for understanding religion and secular practices. The final chapter explores the implications of Smith’s analysis and his advocacy of a post-secular approach to 1) the study of religion, 2) the public square, and 3) religious conflict. The study finds that Smith cogently employs postmodern thought to deconstruct the foundationalist epistemology of the secular. Furthermore, he argues that the secular relies upon an unsubstantiated ontology of closed, autonomous nature that gives secular theorizing and science an unwarranted privileged epistemic status. Modern philosophical anthropology is also found to be overly cognitive, and Smith proposes an original model emphasizing embodiment in which humans are desiring beings shaped by formative practices (“liturgies”). With these results, Smith’s post-secular approach to the study of religion shows that common distinctions between secular and religious beliefs and practices are misleading. A liturgical framework may provide better conceptual tools to locate and explain human behavior, including religious/secular violence, with some complications requiring further research. His analysis suggests a normative post-secularism which allows space for religious identities in the public sphere could potentially meet the challenges of pluralism and religious conflict.

This Master’s thesis examines how societal power is exercised and negotiated by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland and the media in contemporary Finnish society. Conducting a critical discourse analysis of Helsingin Sanomat coverage on the Church and Finland’s asylum seekers between August 2015 and September 2017, the three levels of mediatization of religion as presented by Hjarvard (2008) are offered as a potential theoretical framework to capture essential aspects of the media’s ubiquitous impact on institutional religion. The first chapters introduce the research topic and provide contextual understanding of the Church’s position in contemporary Finnish society and media. This is followed by a literature review and the theoretical and methodological frameworks guiding the analysis. The analysis answers to the research question through the three levels of mediatization of religion. The findings demonstrated the usefulness of critical discourse analysis coupled with the mediatization of religion theory, as the research method highlighted the aspects of prevalence and dominance of mediatization. Although the mediatization of religion theory was not found to provide an exhaustive account on the dynamics between Helsingin Sanomat and the Church, the presence of all three levels of mediatization together with the dominance of media discourses and the Church’s subordination to media logic could be discerned. This thesis provides insight into the renegotiation process of the Church’s place and role in Finnish society, a topic that until today has remained understudied. Further, it sheds light on the power of both the media and the Church to steer and maintain discourses. From the perspective of the Religion, Conflict and Dialogue Master’s Degree program, analyzing the theme within the context of the asylum seeker situation can be deemed supportive for purposes of further research on institutional religion’s role in dialogue promotion and bringing about social cohesion.

In the context of newly introduced secularism in Nepal, the qualitative study discuss different aspects of Nepalese society where religious tension is emerging. The objective of the study is to explore the understanding of religious leaders on secularism and their idea of religious rights. Based on interviews with these leaders (Islam, Hindu and Christian), the thesis describes how their understanding of secularism contrasted in daily life. Based on primary and secondary information, the study further deals about how religious tensions are evolving among different religious groups. Furthermore, it helps to understand how Nepalis secularism differs from western modal of secularism and explains different reasons why the ideal definition of secularism (separation of church and the state) could not be practical one in Nepalese society. The hope of religious equality beaten when the constitution barred to religious conversion. Though conversion is not allowed, different Christian organizations are conducting missionary activities. Consequently, police actions are increased against Christians on the charge of conversion. Christians are raising voice against state interference in religion. They are demanding conversion right if the state is secular. Secularism has been interpreted as a right to convert people, other features of secularism has become minor. Hindus have perceived secularism as a threat to Hinduism. Hindu nationalism emerged against secularism, it has created fear among minority groups. The thesis also explains the view of the Muslims community in the context of the rise of Hindu nationalism and missionary activities of Christians. Contestation on Secularism not only polarize people of religious groups but also political parties. Religion has become a political agenda, the demand for a referendum against secularism has become an issue of the political campaign of non-communist and pro monarch parties. These anti-secular movements are supported by Indian political parties, Indian leaders and different Hindu organizations around the world. In the end, this thesis concludes that there is a need for the interference of the state to end the dominance of Hinduism as well as protect the basic human rights of people where religion suppresses it. The state needs to support minority religious groups to flourish it. The thesis also signifies the need for interreligious dialogue among religious groups to restore harmony and tolerance.

This thesis examines the relation between the young Finnish Muslim women and conflicts abroad involving Muslims. The subject of my study arises from topical questions and events which combine conflicts and Muslims strongly. The foreign fighter phenomenon has generated concerns about young Muslims, for instance. The purpose of my study is to offer Muslims a possibility to shed light on their own perspective regarding conflicts. The research questions of this thesis are 1) What is the young Finnish Muslim women’s relation to conflicts abroad concerning Islam or Muslims, 2) what role does Islam play in this relation and what kind of articulations does it receive and 3) how does the media function in forming a relation to conflicts abroad. The theoretical background utilizes a perspective, which clarifies on two levels where a relation can exist between Finnish Muslim women and conflicts abroad. The effects of conflicts on a transnational level and the impacts in Finland are concentrated. Transnational Islam and especially solidarity explain the first level. The media, as well as the whole history of how the West has viewed Islam as the other, constitute important factors on the local level. The data in my study was generated in ten qualitative research interviews, which I implemented in Helsinki during six months from December 2017 until May 2018. I analyze the data by using a content analysis to interpret the ways the informants construct their relation to conflicts abroad. My study shows that Muslim women build a relation to conflicts abroad through two kinds of paths. On the one hand, the Muslims receive conflicts via different factors, and on the other hand, they construct the relation to conflicts by themselves. Receiving consists of several negative phenomena, which especially the media generates. Islam functions as the most crucial intermediary in approaching conflicts and mostly defines the perspective. My study reveals that the Finnish Muslims’ relation to conflicts abroad contains challenges and unbalanced elements. The scope of the effects of conflicts for them appears too extensive compared to the Muslims’ limited attempts to approach conflicts. The position of religion differs remarkably in how conflicts relate to Muslims in Finland and how they in turn relate to those conflicts. Additionally, the biased picture of Muslims as active perpetrators in conflicts differs from the reality, where the Finnish Muslim women only attempt to show solidarity for suffering fellow Muslims. The relation includes the element of inevitability, because conflicts affect Finnish Muslims without their own volition and Islam urges them to look after fellow believers. This thesis contributes to the field of the research on Finnish Muslims. The themes of conflicts and the media have been addressed in previous research, but this study approaches them from a new angle. Prospective studies can draw on the findings of this study when approaching the topic in the future.

The master’s thesis views the public statements of George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump concerning two issues central to the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli settlement activity and the status of Jerusalem. The ties between the United States and Israel are remarkably close, and it would be reasonable to assume the U.S. to have leverage over Israeli politics. The continuing Israeli settlement activity on the West Bank and East Jerusalem threaten Jerusalem’s status as a divided city between the Israelis and Palestinians and contribute to the overall unrest on the area. While the position of successive U.S. administrations has been that the settlement activity is ill-advised or even illegal, most presidents have only applied verbal means in an attempt to press Israel to end the construction. When it comes to Jerusalem, the stance of the U.S. had long been that the status of the city was to be negotiated between the Israelis and Palestinians, which however changed as the Trump administration recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In this thesis, I view the ways with which the three presidents rationalize the righteousness of their actions in speeches, interviews, press conferences and proclamations. Here, I borrow Isabella and Norman Fairclough’s term “practical argumentation”, which is argumentation for or against a particular way of acting. Using discourse analysis as my method, I view the strategies with which the presidents make their action, or abstention from action, seem as the single right option. Such strategies are referred to as “factualization strategies”. The focus is in the decisions the presidents make concerning Israeli settlements and the status of Jerusalem. For the most part, Bush avoids elaborate critique towards Israeli settlements, guiding the discussion to other topics, such as the fight against terrorism. When Bush does urge Israel to cease building settlements, he justifies his critique by referring to previous agreements and by arguing that the settlement activity has a prejudicing effect on the final-status negotiations. Obama’s critique towards the settlements is consistent. Unlike Bush, he does not show unwillingness to discuss the topic, arguing that the 2010 settlement freeze helped negotiations proceed in a constructive way. However, when inquired about further actions towards Israel, Obama states that he needs to wait and see how Israeli and Palestinian politics are going to sort themselves out and that Israeli politics are too complex to be interfered with. Like Bush, Obama occasionally prioritizes on other matters at the expense of the settlement question arguing that less emotionally loaded issues need to be solved first. Close to the end of his last term, Obama decided to abstain from vetoing a United Nations resolution that condemned Israeli settlements on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. He factualizes the righteousness of his decision by stating that the accelerating pace of the settlement construction poses a threat to the two-state goal. Bush and Obama share the view that the status of Jerusalem is to be negotiated between the parties themselves. Trump has a different approach. While he voices his stance on the settlements only once, suggesting that Israel should slow down with the construction, he addresses the status of Jerusalem multiple times. Trump argues that recognising Jerusalem as the capital of Israel was right due to Jerusalem being founded by Jews and that the recognition was the will of the U.S. Congress. Furthermore, Trump argues that the status of Jerusalem has long been the hardest topic of the negotiations and that a U.S. intervention to solve the issue serves the interests of the peace process, as there now is one less question to discuss.

The violent radical religious group ISIS declared a caliphate in July 2014. The group urged Muslims to make hijrah (migrate), to regions that it controlled. Tens of thousands of Muslims followed the call to migrate and joined ISIS as foreign fighters. Foreign fighters may pose a security threat in the West upon return to their home countries as the conflict in the Middle East resides. Among key mediums for propagating the message of migration to Muslims in the West were ISIS’s English-language online magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah, published 2014–2016 and 2016–2017 respectively. This thesis dives into the meaning and ideology of the message, which urged readers of Dabiq and Rumiyah to migrate to the Islamic State, as well as the persuasive techniques ISIS used in the propaganda to underline this call. Moreover, the thesis aims to track change in the ways that ISIS’s online magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah urged Muslims to migrate. This thesis tests a hypothesis that ISIS’s changing situation from an expanding to a diminishing phase on the ground in the years after 2014 changed the way in which the message of hijrah was propagated between the magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah. The research questions are: How is the propaganda concerning hijrah constructed in ISIS’s propaganda magazines Dabiq and Rumiyah? How did the propagated message about migration to the lands of ISIS in Dabiq and Rumiyah magazines change between the years 2014–2017? And if the message changed over time, why did this happen? The data for this thesis consists of 15 issues of Dabiq-magazine published between July 2014 to July 2016 and 13 issues of Rumiyah-magazine published from September 2016 to September 2017. The research method for analyzing the magazines is close reading and the theoretical background is propaganda research. The research finds that eight main categories were used to propagate messages on hijrah throughout the magazines: (1) calls to hijrah, (2) significance and legitimacy of hijrah, (3) promises of benefits resulting from hijrah, (4) imposing of threats for not performing hijrah, (5) cases of exemplary behavior regarding hijrah, (6) women’s role in the context of hijrah, (7) alternatives to and variations of hijrah, and (8) hijrah as atonement for one’s sins. Furthermore, the results showed that propaganda concerning hijrah did change – not only between the two magazines but also within them. Dabiq-magazine began showing signs of a loosening understanding of hijrah in the latter half of the fifteen issues of the magazine. The initially strictly set paradigm for the obligation of hijrah began to bend. Rumiyah continued to develop the message on hijrah as well. This subsequent magazine presented the intention for performing hijrah as sufficient for being rewarded for the action. It also encouraged into fighting wherever one was located and included the aspect of stealing or destroying non-believers’ property as a means of partaking in ISIS’s efforts against its enemies. ISIS demonstrated what the combined use of modern technology and propaganda can achieve. Based on the results in this thesis, a future study could, for example, attempt to uncover the reasons why messages on hijrah resonated in so many people in the West. Understanding the reasons why calls to hijrah resonated in the readership of propaganda magazines and supporters of ISIS is a crucial step in countering the foreign fighter phenomenon in the future.

Pariisissa 13. marraskuuta 2015 tapahtui seitsemän terrori-iskun sarja, jossa uhriluku nousi 129 henkeen ja loukkaantuneita oli noin 352. Terrori-isku sai paljon mediahuomiota osakseen ja sen takana oli terroristijärjestö ISIS (The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria). Keskustelu eri sosiaalisen median kanavissa oli vilkasta iskujen jälkeen. Tämä Pro gradu –tutkielma keskittyy terrori-iskun jälkeiseen keskusteluun ja ihmisten ensireaktioihin Twitterissä. Koska aikaisempaa tutkimusta tämän tyyppisen kriisin ensireaktioista on hyvin rajallisesti, data, jota tässä tutkielmassa käsitellään, rajoittuu tviitteihin, jotka lähetettiin neljän päivän sisällä iskuista. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli mallintaa millaisia ensireaktioita ihmisillä oli Islamin nimeen tehtyjen terroristi-iskujen jälkeen, mitkä teemat tviiteissä nousivat esiin, mihin tarkoitukseen Twitteriä käytettiin ja minkälainen rooli uskonnolla oli ihmisten järkeistämisprosessissa (sense-making). Tämän tutkielman tutkimusstrategiana on tapaustutkimus. Data kerättiin Twitteristä Pulsar nimisellä työkalulla. Datan rajaamiseksi käytettiin aihetunnisteita #parisattack, #parisshooting ja #paristerror sekä ajallista ja kieleen liittyvää rajaamista. Tiedon analysoinnin metodina käytettiin sisältöanalyysia. Tutkimuksen perusteella, Twitteriä käytettiin laajasti Pariisin terrori-iskujen jälkeen ja tiedon jakamisen tarve korostui Twitterin ensireaktioissa. Muita syitä tviittaamiseen olivat mielipiteiden jakaminen tai hallitsevan tunteen ilmaiseminen. Uskonto esiintyi suhteellisen pienessä osassa tviittejä. Nämä löydökset tukevat aikaisempaa tutkimusta tiedon saamisen tärkeydestä alkuvaiheessa kriisitilanteen tapahduttua, ja siten selittää pientä uskontoa käsittelevien tviittien osuutta. Kun dataa tarkasteltiin vain uskontoaiheisten tviittien osalta, mielipiteiden osuus korostui. Suuri osa näistä tviiteistä pyrki edistämään rauhanomaista yhteisymmärrystä (concensus) pääviesteinään se, että Muslimeja, Islamia tai uskontoa ei ole syyttäminen terrori-iskuista. Toisaalta noin neljännes tviiteistä piti edellä mainittuja syyllisenä iskuihin ja pyrkivät aiheuttamaan vastakkainasettelua (confrontation). Nämä löydökset viittaavat siihen, että uskonto jakoi mielipiteitä ja siitä etsittiin syitä terrori-iskuihin. Tämän tutkimuksen mukaan uskonto oli osa ihmisten järkeistämisprosessia uskontoaiheisten tviittien pienestä lukumäärästä huolimatta.

The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established as an official government body to create national reconciliation after apartheid. It provided an arena for the perpetrators and victims to try to understand each other and their actions. Even though the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is studied from various perspectives, the role of religion in it as a transition process has not received much attention. This study is a critical analysis, which examines the role of religion in South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The analysis is supported with the theories of conflict resolution and transitional justice by using the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s reports as primary sources and the previous academic study as secondary sources. The very little investigation of religion that has been conducted in the multidisciplinary field of transitional justice, justifies the relevance of the study. The study begins with an overview of the role of religion in conflict resolution and peacemaking. Reconciliation and truth commissions as mechanisms of transitional justice are examined and analyzed before moving onto the brief historical overview of South Africa and apartheid. The role of religion in the history of South Africa is explained to support historical the perspective of the study. The role of Religion in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is analyzed from several different perspectives to support the argument that religious connotations took place during the Commission’s existence. The results show that religion and especially Christianity played a significant role in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work. Main reasons for it appear to be the religious historical and cultural notions of the society, and the role of religious leaders as commissioners. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission relied strongly to the ideas of reconciliation and forgiveness which guided its work and eventually swayed religious influence to take place. States that choose reconciliation as an approach to transition to democracy often tend to have strong involvement of religious communities in their society. Even though conflict resolution theories take religion into account, it is very much an underutilized topic in the transitional justice field. With the theoretical ground and the case established, the study shows the importance of understanding religion in conflict resolution and reconciliation processes.

Main aim of this study is to understand the role of the church in Georgian politics, from start of the fall of the Soviet Union till the present days. How church gained power, how they behaved through different ruling parties, how they become from the poorest institution in Georgia to one of the most powerful and rich ones. How they communicate with state, do they interfere in states business, what is the relationship between state and church? All of these questions will be asked in thesis and answered feasibly. Main source materials of the thesis are, interviews with politicians and clerics as well as detailed analysis of newspaper articles, ombudsman annual reports, TV programs and financial data analysis from past 27 years. My thesis is unique in a way that not so much is written in academic circles in Georgia about church and state relationship, it was very hard to find credible book or research in this field, of course there are some works which I analyzed in detail, but as I mentioned this research is unique so it was very hard to gather and structure all the materials about church that was available. Even though it was very hard to find one clear answer, I think that reader will understand the role of the church in Georgian politics, after sixty pages I gradually came to an answer, church needs state and state needs church, even though sometimes both state and church denies, the involvement in one another business, through analysis of the facts and different cases, conclusion is the same every time, state and church are not fully separated in Georgia.

Konfliktien jälkeiseen sovintotyöhön on hyödynnetty monia metodeja. Yksi näistä on urheilu. Ennen hajoamistaan Jugoslavian koripallomaajoukkue oli ainoa, joka todella pystyi haastamaan lajin synnyinmaan Yhdysvallat. Tämä onnistui vain sen kansanryhmien yhteistyöllä. Voisiko koripalloa tänäkin päivänä hyödyntää 1990-luvun sisällissodissa pystytettyjen raja¬-aitojen murtamisessa? Tässä tutkimuksessa analysoidaan yhden pitkään toimineen kansalaisjärjestön sovitteluohjelmaa, joka pyrkii edistämään entisen Jugoslavian eri kansanryhmien välistä dialogia ja yhteistyötä koripalloleirien avulla. Tutkielmassa pohdin, kuinka urheilua hyväksikäyttävä sovitteluohjelma tulisi suunnitella, jotta se vähentäisi eksklusiivista nationalismia. Tämä työ tutkii serbialaisen kansalaisjärjestön rauhankasvatusohjelmaa, joka käyttää urheilua sillanrakennusvälineenä eri kansanryhmien välillä. Kansalaisjärjestön toimintaa analysoidaan Michel Foucault’n hallinnan teorian (governmentality) kautta, sekä vertailemalla ohjelman toteutusta muihin vastaaviin hankkeisiin. Pyrin myös selvittämään mahdollisen Jugonostalgian roolia hankkeen tavoitteiden saavuttamisessa. Työtä ohjasivat seuraavat tutkimuskysymykset: 1) Kuinka ohjelma määrittelee hallinnoitavat subjektinsa? 2) Millä keinoin ohjelma pyrkii saavuttamaan tavoitteensa? Tutkimus toteutettiin analysoimalla hankkeen viimeisintä saatavilla olevaa loppuraporttia, sekä osallistuvan havainnoinnin keinoin kerättyä aineistoa kahdelta koripalloleiriltä vuosina 2018 ja 2019. Tutkimusaineistona toimivat siis vuoden 2009 loppuraportin lisäksi leireillä kirjoitetut muistiinpanot, niiden aikana otetut valokuvat ja videot, sekä leirillä nauhoitetut ryhmähaastattelut. Leirien osallistujat nähtiin omien etnis-uskonnollisten yhteisöjensä edustajina, mutta samalla leireillä vaalittujen arvojen tulevina lähettiläinä omissa yhteisöissään. Rakkaus lajiin toi nuoret samalle leirille. Yhteisöjen välisiä raja-aitoja murretiin erilaisten luentojen ja työpajojen keinoin, mutta myös leiripaikka itsessään tuki tätä sillanrakennusprojektia. Kansainvälisen rahoituksen avulla paikallinen hanke on verkostoitunut laajalti niin entisen Jugoslavian alueella kuin sen ulkopuolellakin. Verkostot, joita ohjelma sekä luo että edelleen kehittää, mahdollistavat sen arvojen toteutumisen. Tulevaisuudessa olisi kiinnostavaa tutkia laajemmin millä tavoin leirille osallistuminen on vaikuttanut nuorten myöhempiin valintoihin. Olisi myös mielenkiintoista tehdä vertailevaa tutkimusta toisessa maantieteellis-kulttuurisessa ympäristössä toimivan Sport for Development and Peace-projektin kanssa, jotta mahdolliset hankkeen suunnittelussa huomioonotettavat kulttuuriset tekijät tulisivat ilmi.