This book looks at the process of cultural enlightenment in the context of Pakistan. It undertakes an interesting and in-depth research focusing on how the world’s second largest Muslim state can learn from Europe’s heritage of enlightenment. It studies why Pakistan lacks a process of awakening and what the scope of cultural enlightenment in Pakistan is against the backdrop of militant Islam. The author argues that cultural enlightenment can help promote positive conflict transformation in Pakistan and discusses the ways in which challenges to establishing a culture of reasoning, tolerance, accommodation, social justice and peace can be dealt with. A unique contribution, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of philosophy, political science, history, international relations, South Asian studies and religious studies. It will also appeal to think tanks, policymakers and general readers interested in these topics.

This book looks at the process of cultural enlightenment in the context of Pakistan. It undertakes an interesting and in-depth research focusing on how the world's second largest Muslim state can learn from Europe's heritage of enlightenment. It studies why Pakistan lacks a process of awakening and what the scope of cultural enlightenment in Pakistan is against the backdrop of militant Islam. The author argues that cultural enlightenment can help promote positive conflict transformation in Pakistan and discusses the ways in which challenges to establishing a culture of reasoning, tolerance, accommodation, social justice and peace can be dealt with. A unique contribution, this book will be of interest to students and researchers of philosophy, political science, history, international relations, South Asian studies and religious studies. It will also appeal to think tanks, policymakers and general readers interested in these topics.

Reenvisioning Peacebuilding and Conflict Resolution in Islam examines the variety of strategic peacebuilding and conflict resolution activities conducted by Muslim practitioners and nongovernmental organizations in Muslim-majority communities. Qamar-ul Huda explores ways that Muslim scholars, civil society members, and communities interpret violence and nonviolence, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution in an interconnected globalized age, focusing on methods, practices, and strategies. He shows how a faith-based commitment can empower effective social, political, and intellectual action that results in meaningful change. The book sheds light on a variety of vital topics, including how the state utilizes hard and soft power in global, religious diplomacy; ways in which civil society organizations and NGOs maximize networks to engage in peacebuilding and conflict resolution; the role of civil society in soft power politics; and how some peacebuilding organizations are out of step with local Muslim cultures & religious customs, and why that matters. Qamar-ul Huda charts a vision of contemporary ethics of peacebuilding, pluralism, reconciliation, and dialogue.

There are inequalities in global knowledge production in communication outlets, cultural practices, and governance problems. Under this symbiotic relationship, they reinforce the cultural ideas, values, and governance systems operating in the Western countries as an ideal and role model for the Global South countries. Media is regarded as the agent of change for communication and cultural values. Indigenous knowledge production and dissemination is an essential feature to get a better insight into Global South countries. Likewise, dewesternizing and demystifying societal culture and governance issues are pertinent in this age of information. The Handbook of Research on Deconstructing Culture and Communication in the Global South focuses on local production practices keeping in view the local needs of communication outlets and societal and cultural sensitivities. This Indigenous knowledge would provide deeper and richer insights into the problems and sensitivities of Global South countries. To achieve this end, this book adopts a broader approach encompassing development issues, democratic values, digitalization practices, gender equality issues, and more. Covering topics such as biocultural activism, language ideology, and religiocentrism, this major reference work is a valuable resource for graduate students, sociologists, government officials, students and educators of higher education, librarians, development organization leaders, religious scholars, policymakers, researchers, and academicians.

Is religion a factor in initiating interstate armed conflict, and do different religions have different effects? Breaking new ground in political science, this book explores these questions both qualitatively and quantitively, concluding that the answer is yes. Previous studies have focused on conflict within states or interstate aggression with overtly religious motivations; in contrast, Brown shows how religion affects states’ propensities to militarize even disputes that are not religious in nature. Different religions are shown to have different influences on those propensities, and those influences are linked to the war ethics inculcated in those religions. The book analyses and classifies war ethics contained in religious scripture and other religious classics, teachings of religions’ contemporary epistemic communities, and religions’ historical narratives. Using data from the new Religious Characteristics of States dataset project, qualitative studies are combined with empirical measurements of governments’ institutional preferences and populations’ cultures. This book will provide interesting insights to scholars and researchers in international security studies, political science, international law, sociology, and religious studies.

Transnational Perspectives on Democracy, Citizenship, Human Rights, and Peace Education considers ways in which national systems of education could work together, across borders, to determine the meaning and significance of the principles of democracy, human rights and peace education, in ways that are comparative and relational. The contributors and editors (Mary Drinkwater, Fazal Rizvi and Karen Edge) argue that in an era of globalization, collaborative investigations are crucial for developing an understanding of rights, democracy and peace that is transnationally inflected, and through which national systems of education hold each other accountable. The chapters address issues such as citizenship, identity, language, conflict and peace-building, global educational policy, and democratic approaches to policy and education issues of democracy, human rights and peace education through analyses of case studies, research findings and policy initiatives drawn from countries in the global north and south.

This book offers an accessible overview of the issues related to the Women, Peace, and Security (WPS) global agenda. This new edition has been updated and includes new chapters on WPS and Environmental Change and on WPS in Regional and Security Organizations. The 2nd edition provides explains Women, Peace and Security as a security framework, different though related to both gender equality as a social justice issue or a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion issue. Within the context of the changing nature of warfare, a complex and volatile global political climate, and through consideration of empirical evidence, it examines the definitions, theoretical underpinnings and methodological challenges associated with implementing WPS. It then discusses with more specificity violence against women, women civilians in war, the role of women in peacemaking, women in the military and in development, and women politicians, with new material on environmental change and on regional and security organisations. Examples and case studies draw from Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North and South America. The need for more sex-disaggregated data on every topic is emphasized throughout, necessary to both demonstrate relationships between gender and security and to identify solutions to problems. The book concludes with a look to the future and number of action items from the macro to the micro level. This book will be of much interest to students of peace studies, security studies, gender studies and IR, as well as professional military college students.

書介 本書論文出於2020年12月10-11日的以Dialogue on Religions and Cultures for Peace in Asia為主題的國際會議。 目錄 7 Introduction to Dreaming Shalom ◆Huang Po Ho 9 Opening Elucidation: Shalom as an Imperative Thrust of Theology ◆Huang Po Ho 13 Religious nationalism: an ideological construct to protect predatory capitalism ◆M. P. Joseph 20 Liberation or Assimilation: Is this Peace? ◆Wati Longchar Section I Pluriform Communities in Asia: Promise and Challenge 27 Pluriform communities: A Biblical Enquiry(Genesis 11:1-9 and Acts 2) ◆Gloria Lita D. Mapangdol 40 Toward a Gendered, Happy, and Pluriform Community: a Reflection of a Feminist Muslim Woman ◆Dewi Candraningrum 50 Small as a Mustard Seed Yet Moving Mountains: the Faith of Pakistani Christian Women and its Role in the Witness of our Community in Pakistan ◆Sheba Sultan Section II Struggling for Reconciliation 67 Victims of War as Agents of Peace: Narratives of War and Peace from Kebithigollawa ◆Shirley Lal Wijesinghe 88 A Political Theologian Looks at the Issue of the Reunification of Korea ◆Jin Kwan Kwon 95 Kairos Palestine: Struggle to be the People of God ◆Ranjan Solomon 105 Violence and Cultural Alienation of Kachin Indigenous People ◆Layang Seng Ja 116 Burmanization ◆Pum Za Mang Section III Inter–faith/ Religious Relations 129 Revisit Interfaith Relations from the Perspective of God’s Creation ◆Huang Po Ho 142 Enlightenment of the Peace from the Interreligious Dialogue of Raimundo Panikkar ◆Jacob Lee Mao-Jung 154 A Critical Review of John Cobb’s Mutual Transformation ◆Jin Cheol Oh 174 Asian Biblical Theology And Filial Piety (Xiao) ◆Marvin A. Sweeney 196 Categorical Engagement in Christianity: Confucian Dialogue for Peace ◆K. James Wu 219 Takaki Senemon’s Faith in Eschatology in the 19th Century Japanese Society ◆Mariko Yakiyama 238 Closing Message ◆Limala Longchar 242 Book Review: Knitter, Paul R. 1985. No Other Name? A Critical Survey of Christian Attitudes Toward the World Religions ◆Marc Grenier Appendix 258 Appendix 1. Conference Agenda 263 Appendix 2. Introduction to Institutes/Organizations 269 Appendix 3. Introduction to Contributors 276 Appendix 4. List of Participants 278 Appendix 5. Pictures 序 The Asian continent is different from other continents. Its nations are spread over the Pacific Ocean and segregated by the waters. Its lands gave birth to almost all world religions, and lead to the creation of a multitude cultures with splendid spiritual and material recourses. It is a continent containing countries who have commonly experienced colonization, poverty, and threats from hegemonic neighbors as well as coercion by world empires. Asian people are religious people, and they have been shaped by different religions to become peace–loving peoples despite having had very little time to truly enjoy authentic peace along their histories. Recent political and military experts have predicted that Asia, particularly Eastern Asia (Korean Peninsula, Taiwan strait, and the Southern Sea area), is the likely hot zone for military conflicts that may indeed become the spark that ignites the third world war. The United States has announced deployment of two thirds of its naval forces to this area to counter potential threats from China’s hegemonic ambitions and activities. Thus dreaming peace for Asian people is not simply a theoretical consideration, but a concrete life–and–death reality. Yet, how do we realize that dream and how to dream it from different religious and theological perspectives are urgent issues to be dealt with. The contents of this collection are papers borne out of the hard labors of many theological scholars from over thirteen Asian countries and beyond which were presented at our international theological conference on December 10-11, 2020. The actual participants stretch over many more countries. It was a hybrid virtual conference held via Internet on site at the campus of Chang Jung Christian University, Taiwan. It was held cooperatively by 5 Asian theological movements and institutions: Asian Forum for Theological Movement (AFTM), Programme for Theology and Cultures in Asia (PTCA), Asian Theological Academy (ATA), Chang Jung Christian University (CJCU), and Academy for Contextual Theologies in Taiwan (ACTT). It was an unprecedented theological event that joined so many organizations as hosts, and attracted scholars from diverse background and so many countries. I am deeply thankful to the leadership of all these organizations for their support and cooperation. The hybrid style of online and on–site virtual conferencing may be considered a peculiar contribution of the Covid Virus pandemic. It certainly will be a new normal to be practiced continually even after the virus pandemic is over. Besides all these, the product of this book is a contribution and salute of ACTT to all those churches and Christian fellows in Asia who have done tremendous efforts to materialize the Shalom dream to our people and our land. Glory be to God. Huang Po Ho Director, Academy for Contextual Theologies in Taiwan March 10, 2021