Widdershoven, Imme
(2018)
Friends or foes? Understanding the relationship between religion and conflict across different levels of politics and society.
Master thesis, Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation.
Abstract
This thesis relates the dominant global discourse on the link between religion and conflict to the perceptions of local NGO staff on the role of religion in Cameroon's society. By doing so, the thesis answers the research question of how the relationship between religion and conflict is understood across different levels of politics and society in the early 21st century. The dominant discourse is shaped largely by non-religious actors who uphold a post-secular world view. Influenced by the events of the past two decades, policy attention is in-creasingly spent on policing religious communities that are expected to be at risk of adopting radical views. The underlying assumption is that radicalisation may lead to (violent) conflict. In the understanding of the relationship between religion and conflict by local NGO staff in Cameroon, the focus lies on how religion mostly promotes peace and tolerance. Cameroon's diverse religious landscape and history of peaceful coex-istence offer structures that contain possible tensions between religious groups. Conflicts relating to issues of religion are explained against a specific contextual backdrop of political instability and socioeconomic hardship. The thesis argues that both ways of understanding the relationship between religion and conflict are shaped by the specific context in which the perception is constructed. It shows the risks of adopting global ideas in a local context, as policy can be ineffective or even contribute to a problem if context-specific dy-namics are not taken into account.
KEY WORDS
Religion, conflict, radicalisation, CVE, Cameroon, international relations, conflict prevention
| Type: |
Thesis
(Master)
|
| Supervisors (RUG): |
| Supervisor | E-mail | Tutor organization | Tutor email |
|---|
| Wilson, E.K. | E.K.Wilson@rug.nl | | | | Tarusarira, J. | J.Tarusarira@rug.nl | | |
|
| Degree programme: |
Master Religion Conflict and Globalisation |
| Academic year: |
2017- 2018 |
| Date of delivery: |
31 Aug 2018 |
| Last modified: |
31 Aug 2018 13:13 |
| URI: |
https://rcs.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/401 |
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