Behind the Veil of Discourse

A few weeks into their field assignments, the ISS researchers have started to unpack their questions and issues, venturing into complexity beyond the veil of discourse.

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 Bisshop Zac Niringiye conveyed this message to the participants of the pluralism knowledge programme conference in Ka...

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 deb...

Indonesia: annul religious defamation law

Pluralism Knowledge Programma partner CRCS recommends the Indonesian Constitutional Court to abolish the 1965 law on defamation of religion. The law is still effectively used today to discriminate certain religious groups. Furthermore it is found to be in contradiction with the Constitution. However, most mainstream religious organisations defend the law. CRCS presents its arguments on exploring alternative instruments to deal with religious diversity and potential conflicts.

How I see the Uganda riots

‘My argument is very simple, by virtue of demographic dictates; any development discourse that leaves out the voices of young people is likely to backfire’. Ambrose Kibuuka, linked to the Pluralism Knowledge Programme through the Yogyakarta Summer School, argues for more serious engagement with Ugandan youth.

Why Muslims Need a Secular State and Western Politics Should not Interfere

Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im meets Maurits Berger on 25 May- Join the Debate! Researcher and activist An-Na'im argues - from a Muslim perspective - for a secular state.To be a Muslim by conviction and free choice, An-Na'im says, he needs a state that is neutral regarding religions. Yet still he thinks that religion should play a bigger role in politics. But which one? This debate is part of a two-day conference on "Promoting Pluralism through Civic Reason?" organised by the Promoting...

Professorial chairs

We give support to professorial chairs at Dutch universities, namely the extraordinary chair of Paul Hoebink at CIDIN together with Oxfam Novib and the chair of Saskia Wieringa at the University of Amsterdam.

Emily Drani

Emily Drani is the Regional coordinator of the programme in Uganda. She is one of the founder members and executive director of the Cross Cultural Foundation of Uganda. CCFU is a non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting culture as essential for equitable and sustainable development in Uganda. Emily is in charge of much of the Foundation’s research, its advocacy work and its strategic development.

Ram Kakarala

Prof. Ram Kakarala is the Regional Coordinator of the programme in India. He is Director of the Centre for Culture and Society in Bangalore. CSCS was established in 1996 by scholars interested in new approaches to studying culture in India. The need was felt to reframe the social sciences and humanities disciplines to deal with the transformations and political mobilizations currently taking place in the area of gender, caste and community. CSCS understands culture in its most inclusive sens...

Zainal Bagir

Dr. Zainal Abidin Bagir is the Regional Coordinator of the programme in Indonesia. He is Executive Director of the Center for Religious and Cross-cultural Studies [CRCS] at the Graduate School of Gadjah Mada University. He is one of the authors of the mapping study on the state of pluralism in Indonesia, and involved in the Annual Report on Religious Pluralism. His research interest: higher education in the Muslim context, religion and contemporary issues, and pluralism and interreligious d...