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2. Are the Palestinians More Violent in Ramadan?
- Author:
- Hillel Frisch
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security (JISS)
- Abstract:
- Israeli officials and the media continuously warn about the dangers of the upcoming Ramadan, on the assumption that Palestinians are more violent during that period. However, this assumption is highly problematic in analyzing the data on Palestinian violence during Ramadan compared with the rest of the year.
- Topic:
- Religion, Media, Discrimination, and Violence
- Political Geography:
- Middle East, Palestine, and Israel
3. In the Forest of the Blind: The Eurasian Journey of Faxian's Record of Buddhist Kingdoms
- Author:
- Matthew W. King and Gray Tuttle
- Publication Date:
- 04-2023
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Speaker's Bio: Matthew King is an Associate Professor of Buddhist Studies and Director of Asian Studies at the University of California, Riverside. He is also a visiting scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute for 2022-2023. His research examines the social history of knowledge in Buddhist scholastic networks extending across the Tibeto-Mongolian frontiers of the late Qing empire and its revolutionary ruins. Much of his published work has focused on encounters between Buddhist scholasticism, science, humanism, and state socialism in the 19th and early 20th centuries. He is also broadly engaged with methodological revision in the study of religion and Buddhist Studies, and in revisionist theoretical projects associated with the critical Asian humanities. King's first book Ocean of Milk, Ocean of Blood: A Mongolian Monk in the Ruins of the Qing Empire (Columbia University Press, 2019), was awarded the American Academy of Religion Excellence in the Study of Religion: Textual Studies book award, the Central Eurasian Studies Society's 2020 Best Book in History and Humanities, and the International Convention of Asia Scholars Book Prize (Specialist Publication).
- Topic:
- Religion, History, and Buddhism
- Political Geography:
- Eurasia and Asia
4. The Seventh Dalai Lama's Residence in Kham with Yudru Tsomu
- Author:
- Yudru Tsomu and Gray Tuttle
- Publication Date:
- 02-2023
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- The Seventh Dalai Lama’s residence at Gartar Monastery (Mgar thar dgon, མགར་ཐར་དགོན། ), beginning in 1730, greatly affected the relationship between the Kham region and the Tibetan government as well as the Qing court’s control over Kham. The Dalai Lama’s interactions with various indigenous leaders, local monasteries, monks and lay people increased the influence of the Geluk school in Kham, and also inspired their support for the Dalai Lama. Measures adopted by the Qing court to protect the Dalai Lama, such as stationing troops and inspecting check-points, also strengthened Qing control of Kham. After the Dalai Lama left for Tibet in 1735, Gartar Monastery continued to serve as a religious and cultural center of northern Kham, having the function of “civilizing” and “enlightening” the neighboring regions that were far away from the political center. Successive abbots of Gartar Monastery—all the way up to 1920—came from Drepung Monastery in Lhasa; they and the monks of Gartar influenced, interfered and controlled the local affairs of Gartar and other regions in Kham. In particular, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Gartar Monastery, together with the Tibetan commissioner in Nyarong, was able to assist the Tibetan government’s efforts to extend its sphere of influence in Kham.
- Topic:
- Government, Religion, History, Buddhism, and Dalai Lama
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Tibet
5. Teaching Tibetan Buddhism in the Western Academy with Jan Willis
- Author:
- Jan Willis
- Publication Date:
- 03-2023
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Through personal and practical anecdotes from her own life and teaching, Dr. Jan Willis describes in this talk how, over the course of fifty years, she both learned and taught Tibetan Buddhism in undergraduate academic settings in the West. Looking at the obstacles and challenges of teaching an “esoteric” religious tradition, the talk is as much about pedagogy as about Tibetan Buddhism.
- Topic:
- Religion, Pedagogy, Buddhism, and Tradition
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Tibet
6. Impact of the Church on Conflict Transformation of Political Crises at Community Level: A Case Study of two Church Denominations in Dzivarasekwa, Harare
- Author:
- Angela Shoko
- Publication Date:
- 01-2023
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- African Journal on Conflict Resolution
- Institution:
- The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
- Abstract:
- This study, based on Lederach’s conflict transformation (CT) theory, analyses the participation of the local church in CT of political crises in Zimbabwe at the grassroots level – from 2005 to 2020. It compares the CT interventions of one Pentecostal church denomination and of one African Independent Church denomination in the Dzivarasekwa suburb of Harare. A convergent parallel mixed methods design was used. SPSS software was used to analyse quantitative data while the NVivo application was used for qualitative data analysis. One key finding is that both denominations believe CT entails community engagement. Major challenges to local churches’ CT participation include financial constraints, repressive laws and church executives’ fear of victimisation. The study concludes that the impact of the local churches is low because their interventions are limited to congregation members and their immediate neighbours. Another conclusion is that CT is politicised in Zimbabwe, which restricts effective church participation. The study makes some recommendations to address this.
- Topic:
- Religion, Transitional Justice, Conflict, Christianity, and Political Crisis
- Political Geography:
- Africa and Zimbabwe
7. From the Archivist’s Nook: An interview with Christy Lobo
- Author:
- Christy Lobo and Joseph Satish
- Publication Date:
- 06-2023
- Content Type:
- Commentary and Analysis
- Institution:
- The Toynbee Prize Foundation
- Abstract:
- Christy Lobo is the archivist at the Archives of the Jesuit Madurai Province in Shembaganur, Tamil Nadu. Technically skilled with an M.Sc. in Computer Science and a passion for the history of Jesuits in India, Mr. Lobo is keen on using the latest technologies in maintaining the Shembaganur archives and enhancing its online presence. In this brief interview, Jesuit studies scholar and Toynbee Prize Foundation Editor-at-Large Joseph Satish V talks to Christy Lobo about his work as an archivist and his enthusiasm for all things Jesuit.
- Topic:
- Religion, History, Research, Interview, and Archives
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and Nepal
8. La política sin sol. Organizaciones cristianas y relaciones intercoreanas bajo el gobierno de Moon Jae-In, 2017-2022
- Author:
- María del Pilar Álvarez
- Publication Date:
- 10-2023
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Revista UNISCI/UNISCI Journal
- Institution:
- Unidad de investigación sobre seguridad y cooperación (UNISCI)
- Abstract:
- La llegada de Moon Jae-In a la presidencia generó grandes expectativas entre las iglesias cristianas vinculadas a la Política del Sol. Recuperando categorías analíticas para el estudio de las redes trasnacionales de advocacy, este artículo examina a través del análisis cualitativo de documentos oficiales, sitios oficiales de internet y entrevistas semi-estructuradas realizadas a los miembros de las iglesias, el rol del cristianismo en las políticas de unificación bajo el gobierno de Moon JaeIn. El artículo sostiene que, frente a la negativa del gobierno de Moon de rehabilitar las acciones directas de la sociedad civil surcoreana en el Norte, las iglesias que apoyaban al gobierno redefinieron sus repertorios de acción y marcos normativos sin romper sus vínculos con el gobierno, mientras que las iglesias que se oponían al presidente reforzaron el activismo bumerang para presionar y denunciar al gobierno.
- Topic:
- Religion, Transnational Actors, Christianity, and Unification
- Political Geography:
- Asia, South Korea, and North Korea
9. Türkiye’s First 100 Years
- Author:
- W. Robert Pearson
- Publication Date:
- 11-2023
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- American Diplomacy
- Institution:
- American Diplomacy
- Abstract:
- Modern Türkiye (the official spelling of Turkey since 2021) sprang like a phoenix from the ashes in 1923, overcoming daunting odds. Its predecessor, the Ottoman Empire, had foolishly joined the war with the Central Powers in 1914 and naively thought its Arab subjects would remain loyal, only to have been utterly defeated and then dismembered. A rebellion led by the empire’s most famous war hero and leader, Kemal Ataturk, overthrew the last sultan, rejected an unjust treaty to divide up the country and repelled the occupying Allies. He established a contemporary republic based on popular will and modern law to begin a new history for the Turkish people. Born from the wreckage of war and national chaos, Türkiye now, one hundred years on, has become a formidable player on the global stage. World War One witnessed four empires – the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian, and Ottoman – disappear from history. Of the four, the Turks were the most severely treated by the European victors. Little of Germany and none of the Austro-Hungarian states were occupied. Türkiye was. The country also was originally forecast to become a League of Nations mandate, losing its sovereignty, a punishment not assessed against any other Central Power. Türkiye’s victory at the negotiating table in the early 1920’s over the European Allied Powers and on the battlefield principally against the Greeks, who were encouraged by the British to invade Türkiye to recover territories, was a singular achievement. The final agreement – the Treaty of Lausanne – gave Türkiye its complete independence on October 29, 1923, with Mustafa Kemal as its first president. It was the only such treaty negotiated by a WWI Central Power state with the Allies.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Religion, History, Democracy, Economy, Kurds, Ottoman Empire, and Regional Power
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
10. Are Muslims Intolerant of Non-Muslim Minorities? The Case of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
- Author:
- Jamal Shah, Bican Şahin, and M. Sheharyay Khan
- Publication Date:
- 12-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Review of Human Rights
- Institution:
- Society of Social Science Academics (SSSA)
- Abstract:
- In the wake of terrorist attacks carried out by radical Islamist groups such as Al Qaida, Bocco Haram and ISIS, there has been a growing tendency in the western societies to dub Muslims as illiberal and intolerant of religious minorities and Islam as a religion of terror. Muslims are presented as people oppressing cultures which they disapprove of. In this article, this negative portrayal of Muslims as intolerant, non-accommodative and discriminative is questioned in the context of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan. The paper, firstly, surveys the liberal theories of multiculturalism and secondly, evaluates the attitudes of religious groups in KP towards religious differences by collecting 2977 questionnaires and conducting 80 personal interviews from four religious groups. The paper shows that as a Muslim majority entity, KP society is tolerant, accommodative and non-discriminative with majority of the respondents supporting state neutrality in term of religion.
- Topic:
- Religion, Minorities, Pluralism, Exclusion, Intolerance, and Accommodation
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, South Asia, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
11. Religious Accommodation through Non-Territorial Autonomy: Assessing the Relevance of Islamic Doctrine and Traditions in Contemporary Times
- Author:
- Muhammad Mushtaq
- Publication Date:
- 12-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Review of Human Rights
- Institution:
- Society of Social Science Academics (SSSA)
- Abstract:
- It appears that the growing religious diversity in the developing and developed worlds will pose a serious challenge in the near future. However, religious minorities are surprisingly understudied in the literature on the politics of accommodation. Similarly, far less emphasis has been placed on non-territorial autonomy, which has the potential to deal with territorially dispersed religious minorities. It is argued that the Ottoman millet system based on Islamic values was the first non-territorial arrangement that successfully accommodated religious differences for centuries. Therefore, this paper reviews the Islamic doctrine and traditions pertaining to religious accommodation in general and the Ottoman millet system, in particular, to examine if the case offers any valuable insights into the scheme of religious autonomy in modern times.
- Topic:
- Islam, Religion, Minorities, Autonomy, Ottoman Empire, Tradition, Accommodation, and Millet System
- Political Geography:
- Middle East
12. A Pilgrim’s Diary: Khatag Dzamyag’s nyindep and Tibetan diary-keeping practices
- Author:
- Lucia Galli and Gray Tuttle
- Publication Date:
- 05-2022
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- This presentation offers an overview of diary-keeping practices in the Tibetan literary and historical milieus by taking as a case study the personal account of a 20th-century Eastern Tibetan trader named Khatag Dzamyag (Kha stag ’Dzam yag, 1896-1961). Belonging to the diaristic genre of nyinto (nyin tho)/nyindep (nyin deb), the work lends itself to multiple approaches. Recent studies in the literary field have already marked the existence of a hybrid form of (auto)biographical narratives, in which the factual and the fictional merge, mix, and intertwine. Facts are constantly subject to manipulation through processes of narrativization, selection, expansion, and omission that all together contribute to the coming into play of fiction. By taking life stories as a metaphor for the phenomena of human life, mind, and action, (auto)biographical narratives thus become a means of “doing living”, i.e. a way to understand the meaning of life while acting, thinking, and living it. Taking a narratological approach, Dr. Galli will reflect upon the dual structural core of Dzamyag’s autobiographical first-person pronoun – as self that is both “narrating” and “narrated”, extending the discussion to the way in which traditional structures and institutions of self-representation are actively engaged and reinterpreted throughout the nyindep.
- Topic:
- Religion, History, and Narrative
- Political Geography:
- Asia and Tibet
13. Organized Shinto’s Efforts to Restore the Imperial Rescript on Education in Postwar Japan
- Author:
- Hirokazu Yoshie and Paul Kreitman
- Publication Date:
- 12-2022
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- In the 1960s, the Association for Shinto Shrines—comprising 98% of the shrines nationwide—began running a decade-old campaign to reinstate a prewar symbol of emperor-centered nationalism, i.e., the Imperial Rescript on Education (kyōiku chokugo). Member priests petitioned prime ministers and other LDP politicians, published manuals for adults and picture books for children, and held summer camps for young students. These efforts were based on a modern translation into which the organization had rendered from the originally archaic rescript. Puzzlingly, this modern paraphrase completely concealed the authorship and centrality of the Meiji emperor, leaving only generic words of patriotism, which apparently defeats the purpose of the restorationism. His presentation makes sense of the campaign by analyzing organized Shinto’s discourse with it and considering its broader historical context. The narrative starts from the US occupation era (1945-1952), when the official invalidation of the rescript by Americans left conservative Japanese aggrieved. After failed attempts to revise the new constitution (1952-1964), the restoration movement gathered momentum amid left-leaning campus activism in around 1970. Convinced that it was a result of America’s ideological colonization, the Shinto organization argued that the restoration would serve to overcome that negative influence. But they tried to do so without disrupting popular sovereignty of postwar Japan, which required dilution of the text’s politically incorrect elements. The talk ends by suggesting the significance of looking at prewar legacies in our understanding of the role of the monarchy in postwar Japan.
- Topic:
- Education, Religion, History, and Shintoism
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Asia
14. Religion and Politics in Japan after the Abe Assassination
- Author:
- Levi McLaughlin and Benjamin E. Goldsmith
- Publication Date:
- 10-2022
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University
- Abstract:
- Turmoil following the shocking murder of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō on July 8, 2022 by a gunman who bore a grudge against the Unification Church (UC) has reinforced the fact that we must attend to religion in order to understand politics in Japan. In this talk, Levi McLaughlin (North Carolina State University) will contextualize revelations about the UC and its political connections as he surveys how religions and religion-adjacent activists in Japan exert a decisive impact on vote-gathering, policymaking, and party politics. McLaughlin will draw on his ethnographic and historical research to provide an overview of Shinto-affiliated nationalists (including the lobby organization Nippon Kaigi and its signatories), Buddhists (including Soka Gakkai and its affiliated party Komeito), and other actors to reconcile the incommensurate image of Japan as non-religious with the persistence of Japan's religiously-inspired political engagements, and he will discuss precedents for the moral panic that has surged in the wake of Abe's assassination to interpret ways Japan's religion/politics nexus is now developing.
- Topic:
- Politics, Religion, Assassination, and Shinzo Abe
- Political Geography:
- Japan and Asia
15. Istanbul Journal of Economics: Volume 72 Issue 2
- Author:
- Gökhan Karabulut
- Publication Date:
- 06-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Istanbul Journal of Economics
- Institution:
- Istanbul University Faculty of Economics
- Abstract:
- Istanbul Journal of Economics-İstanbul İktisat Dergisi is an open access, peer-reviewed, scholarly journal published two times a year in June and December. It has been an official publication of Istanbul University Faculty of Economics since 1939. The manuscripts submitted for publication in the journal must be scientific and original work in Turkish or English. Being one of the earliest peer-reviewed academic journals in Turkey in the area of economics, Istanbul Journal of Economics-İstanbul İktisat Dergisi aims to provide a forum for exploring issues in basicly economics and publish both disciplinary and multidisciplinary articles. Economics is the main scope of the journal. However, multidisciplinary and comparative approaches are encouraged as well and articles from various social science areas such as sociology of economics, history, social policy, international relations, financial studies are welcomed in this regard. The target group of the journal consists of academicians, researchers, professionals, students, related professional and academic bodies and institutions.
- Topic:
- Economics, Islam, Religion, Communications, Natural Resources, Finance, Internet, Economic Growth, Macroeconomics, Currency, Unemployment, Sustainability, COVID-19, BRICS, Labor Market, Economic Stability, Consumer Behavior, Rent-seeking, Energy, and Wages
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Turkey, and Asia
16. Alcohol consumption in modern Turkey: Kulturkampf and polarization
- Author:
- Evangelos Areteos and Christina Kapodistria
- Publication Date:
- 11-2022
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
- Abstract:
- Α culture war (Kulturkampf) is raging in Turkey, and alcohol is one of the major fronts once again. Opposing cultural identities are emerging as a powerful instrument of polarization. The ongoing culture war is revealing the AKP’s potential, but also its limits.
- Topic:
- Religion, Culture, Alcohol, AKP, and Polarization
- Political Geography:
- Turkey and Middle East
17. So Old and Yet So New: Buddhist Education and the Monastic Curriculum in Contemporary Bhutan
- Author:
- Dorji Gyeltshen and Manuel Lopez
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Journal of Bhutan Studies
- Institution:
- Centre for Bhutan & GNH Studies (CBS)
- Abstract:
- The emergence of a modern secular educational system in Bhutan in the 1960s forced the monastic institutions in the country to adapt and change to the new social, political and educational landscape. This article explores the transformation and changes to monastic education in Bhutan during the second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century, with a particular focus on the introduction of a new monastic curriculum in the 1980s and the rise of the Shedra (Tib. bshad grwa) or monastic college as the central religious educational institution in contemporary Bhutan. The article is based on research that took place during the summers of 2018 and 2019, where the authors visited dozens of monasteries, collected various curricula, and talked to monks and officials all over the country. We argue that Bhutan is in the midst of a new transformational period in which Buddhist education and the monastic curriculum are being revitalized through a series of innovations and changes that have to do as much with a dialogue with secular education as with the impact of other factors: the influence of transnational Buddhist movements and ideas, the introduction of the commentarial curriculum from Tibetan monasteries in India, and the loss of political power after the introduction of the Bhutanese constitution in 2008, among others. The result is a monastic curriculum that asserts specific Bhutanese sectarian and national identity, and introduces a religious education that is transforming monastic life and education in ways that we are only beginning to see.
- Topic:
- Education, Religion, Buddhism, and Curriculum
- Political Geography:
- South Asia, India, Tibet, and Bhutan
18. A New Era of Sectarian Violence in Pakistan
- Author:
- International Crisis Group
- Publication Date:
- 09-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- A local jihadist group and a violent protest movement are driving renewed sectarian strife in Pakistan. To prevent a slide back into violence, Islamabad should ensure those inciting or perpetrating violent acts are prosecuted while denying hardliners the civic space to propagate their hatred.
- Topic:
- Religion, Protests, Violence, and Jihad
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan and Asia
19. Addressing Islamist Militancy in the Southern Philippines
- Author:
- International Crisis Group
- Publication Date:
- 03-2022
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- International Crisis Group
- Abstract:
- The transition to self-rule in the Bangsamoro, the majority-Muslim region in the southern Philippines, is proceeding apace. Militants outside the associated peace process are losing strength but could recover. Regional and national authorities should do all in their power to keep that from happening.
- Topic:
- Religion, Governance, Conflict, and Violence
- Political Geography:
- Philippines and Oceania
20. How Religious Diplomacy and Pan-Islamic Organizations Can Help Stabilize Afghanistan
- Author:
- Hussam R. Ahmed
- Publication Date:
- 08-2022
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS)
- Abstract:
- The United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 was followed by a surprisingly quick takeover by the Taliban, the predominantly Pashtun, Islamic fundamentalist group that had initially been ousted in 2001. Their triumphant return to power 20 years has raised numerous questions about what led to the US and Western failure in Afghanistan, the implications for regional and global security, and the policy options now available to Europe and the United States. As of now, the West has no plans to engage with the Taliban government, but continued inaction could result in dire consequences for Afghan citizens as well as for Western interests at large. A severe humanitarian crisis has gripped Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, pushing nearly 20 million people to the verge of famine. The United Nations Development Programme fears Afghanistan will face near “universal poverty” by the end of 2022 with 97 percent of the population living below the international poverty line. There is also a growing threat that a Taliban regime could enable terrorist organizations to operate more openly on Afghan soil, paving the way for new, aggravated threats to regional and global security. The withdrawal has also compelled European to re-evaluate their partnership with the United States on Afghanistan and to fear that the fallout from the Taliban’s resurgence will be most severe for Europe, including more immediately with social and economic costs of dealing with more refugees. There is widespread agreement in the West that engagement in Afghanistan needs to continue but not the way it was done in the past. To explore what that reimagining Western engagement can look like, this paper presents an analysis of a foreign policy approach that has largely remained absent from the discussion: religious diplomacy. This form of Track Two diplomacy is deeply rooted in religious texts, practices, and traditions, and it is oriented toward the active role of faith leaders in politics, conflict resolution, and peace-building. In Afghanistan, where the sociocultural and political realities have historically remained deeply intertwined with it, an insufficient understanding of religion has led some to argue this was a major blind spot in the Western foreign policy approach. There is a need to revisit religion’s centrality to the war and how religious diplomacy offers an underappreciated peace-building framework that can be operationalized through faith-based organizations that share existing relationships with Afghanistan, a common religious language and cultural affinities with its people, and moral capital to draw from. The Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Muslim World League, in particular, are two highly influential pan-Islamic nongovernmental organizations, that have leveraged their religious legitimacy and moderate interpretations of Islamic teachings to provide a counter narrative to radical ideas that promote violent extremism, to facilitate dialogue, to mediate conflicts, and to initiate peace-building in previous and ongoing conflicts in the Muslim world. Drawing on their experience, this paper argues that creative religious diplomacy through them can be an effective policy option for the Europe and the United States for a sustainable future engagement in Afghanistan. The paper therefore offers recommendations that flesh out the form this could take.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, Religion, Political stability, Domestic Politics, Society, and Community-based Organizations
- Political Geography:
- Afghanistan and South Asia