News
Ugandans search for common ground in run-up to 2011 elections
´Ugandans have been too engrossed with our differences. We have a history of tribalism that manifest itself in the idea that one has to create strong tribal entities that are able to dominate the othes. We must accept plurality as a fact and a gift and identify the common ground. This is a challenge for our political leadership, but also for each of us here.´ Key note speaker Bishop Zac Niringiye conveyed this message to the participants of the pluralism knowledge programme conference in Kamp...
Comedy of errors
'Having gone through secular Makerere University in Uganda, I thought that all universities were more or less like that. I was grossly wrong.' As part of 2010's Yogya Summer School, Adrian Jjuuko blogs about his visit to a Quran University in local Central Java.
Study of Girls’ Madrasa Education in India
This study is an attempt to look at the nuances of identity formation among Indian Muslim women; notions of identity and selfhood are a result of the intersections of caste, class, religion and gender, among other factors. This paper tries to understand the process of construction of identity of Muslim women through a study of girls’ madrasas. It also attempts to examine binaries such as modernity and tradition, the secular and the religious and, nationhood and religious minority, which deba...
Media and Religious Identity in Contemporary India
The hypothesis behind this paper is that we live in a “hyper-connected” world. Information , for most of us, lies , quite literally, at our fingertips. Television, the internet, newspapers and other media are within easy reach of most of the population regardless , it would seem, of class or even literacy or education. Under these circumstances it seemed a natural enough to question what role the media plays in perceptions of identity and pluralism.
Pluralism mapped in Indonesia
The study by Zainal Bagir (Centre for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies, Yogyakarta) provides a portrait of Indonesian Muslims in terms of their views and attitudes towards the 'other'. It also analyses the discourse of pluralism by the supporters and opponents of the idea. Lastly it reviews governmental policies with regard to religion, especially the freedom of religion.This mapping is expected to be the ground to build knowledge about pluralism in Indonesia further as well as guide us i...
Uganda Riots Revisited.
Violent confrontations rocked Kampala in September 2009. This interview with knowledge programme coordinators Emily Drani and John De Coninck sheds light on the background of the unrest and its possible implications for the work of the pluralism knowledge programme in Uganda.
Instruments for Promoting Pluralism
Pro-pluralism activists in Indonesia tend to be too elitist and limit themselves to intellectual discussions, Farid Wajidi argues. In this working paper, he suggests that the pluralism movement needs to develop new strategies that could also reach common people, youth in particular. As an example, he describes the efforts of the NGO LKiS to create youth communities where high school students can personallyexperience pluralism instead of only talking about it.
The Hidden Dimension of the Secular.
Humanists should reconsider their often anti-religious stance, argue Henk Manschot and Caroline Suransky, researchers of the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme at the University for Humanistics. There is a special relationship between modernity, secularism and humanism. However, the project of modernity has increasingly come under siege. Therefore, modern humanism too is challenged to rethink its own relationship with modernity and secularism.
Rethinking the Secular
Religious difference has been posited as a crucial factor in international conflicts and increasingly challenges existing political settlements that define the relationship between the state and religion. Considering the ways in which politics and religion currently intersect one may argue that religion has become an increasingly important consideration in global politics. In this paper, Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na`im discusses his ideas on Islam and the secular state as presented during the Plural...
Apply now! International Summer School on Pluralism and Development
As part of the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme, Hivos supports this Summer School for young academics and civil society activists from India, Indonesia and Uganda. Are you interested in learning more about human development theories? Did you always lack the time to reflect on your own work in development? Are you curious how you can contribute to the Promoting Pluralism Knowledge Programme? Apply now for participation in the Kosmopolis Summer School!