RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY: Discourses and Realities in Africa and Asia. With a Comparative View from Europe. 55 Years after the Bandung Asian-African Conference 1955
Sunday 7 July 2013, by BSCS 2013
//A Conference-Book launching,
AL QALAM INSTITUTE,
Ateneo de Davao University,
Davao City, Davao del Sur, Mindanao,
PHILIPPINES,
June 19-20, 2013
65 years after the World War II, 55 years after Bandung Asian-African Conference 1955 and 20 years after the Cold War, wars and violent conflicts still take place, not only between Nation-States, but also inside the Nation-States (e.g. conflicts around ethnic and religious differences).
It seems clear that the common denominator of those conflicts is the diversity (of ethnic groups, religious communities, economic modes of production, ideological stands,…), which is not taken into account or insufficiently taken into account in the governance within and among the Nation-States, so that it generates conflicts instead of well-being. And religious diversity is a potential source if not a real cause of social conflicts and wars between and inside the Nation-States.
So, the question is how do Nation-State, Civil Society Organisations and Religious Authorities deal with religious diversity in the context of globalisation? Do they consider religious diversity as a condition, a motor, an obstacle or a goal of sustainable development?
A collective work of researchers and activists of civil society organisations is needed to answer those questions. Two main “raw materials” are supposed to be the object of reflection. The first one is the “reality” of social life where two or more religious communities live together in peace or in conflict. The second one is the “discourse” of the Nation-State (constitution, law, presidential decree, governmental measures, police operations, army interventions, and other types of concept and practice by the agents of Nation-State), the Civil Society Organisations (NGO and academic world) and the Religious Authorities (Churches, Councils of Ulama, Buddhist Sangha Councils,…) regarding religious diversity.
In the framework of Bandung Spirit Book Series, the collective work has come out in the form of a book titled RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY IN A GLOBAL SOCIETY: Discourses and Realities in Africa and Asia, With a Comparative View from Europe, 55 Years after the Bandung Asian-African Conference 1955. In a spirit of cooperation and solidarity, five institutions have agreed to be the co-publishers of the book and to promote the book in their respective community and network. That is why AL QALAM INSTITUTE as one of them proposes a conference-book launching.
THE BOOK
The book is published under the editorship of Darwis Khudori (Indonesian writer, architect and historian, associate professor doctor in Oriental Studies at the University of Le Havre, France) and contains articles written by scholars and activists of social and solidarity movements from Africa, Asia and Europe. They concern religious issues in Burma (Myanmar), India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lebanon, Mali, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Tanzania, Thailand,…
PUBLISHERS
Under the label of Bandung Spirit Book Series, the book is published in a cooperative way of five institutions as co-publoishers. They are: The Centre of South-South Cooperation Studies, Brawijaya University, Malang, East Java, Indonesia; ILDES (Lebanese Institute for Social and Economic Development), Lebanon; AL QALAM INSTITUTE; Ateneo de Davao University, Mindanao, Philippines; GRIC (Group of Research on Identities and Cultures), University of Le Havre, France; The Centre for World Christianity and Interreligious Studies, Radboud University, Netherlands.
The co-publication system is chosen in order: 1) To reinforce publication as a tool of a collective movement; 2) To share the cost of production; 3) To create a mutual symbiosis between institutions involved in the co-publication; 4) To make the book price affordable to readers from the developing world; 5) To ensure the distribution of the books.
SPEAKERS
Some of the authors will be present as speakers in the conference-book launching: Boutros Labaki (Lebanon), Darwis Khudori (France/Indonesia), Maung Zarni (Burma/Myanmar/UK), Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan (the Philippines),…
HOSTING INSTITUTION
AL QALAM INSTITUTE,
Ateneo de Davao University,
Davao City, Davao del Sur, Mindanao,
PHILIPPINES,
http://alqalam.addu.edu.ph/
CO-ORGANISING PERSONS AND INSTITUTIONS
Mr. Mussolini Sinsuat Lidasan
,
Director, Al Qalam Institute,
Ateneo de Davao University at Mindanao,
Davao City, Davao del Sur,
PHILIPPINES,
http://alqalam.addu.edu.ph/
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Darwis Khudori
,
GRIC (Group of Research Identities and Cultures),
Universite du Havre,
25, rue Philippe Lebon Le Havre 76057,
FRANCE,
Phone +33-2 32 74 41 60 Fax +33 2 32 74 41 47,
http://www.univ-lehavre.fr/recherche/gric/index.php
PARTICIPANTS
The event is a gathering of civil society movements (including academic communities). The main participants are academics and activists of social and solidarity movements (including artists) from the region and beyond. The event is also a place for dialogues between civil society movements and other actors of development. A certain number of participants from government and business sectors will therefore be invited to join.
The conference is open to the public. Those willing to participate in the event are invited to fill-in the form that can be downloaded soon from this website.