Religious Actors and Conflict Transformation in Southeast Asia

Jürgen Rüland is professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and speaker of the University of Freiburg’s Southeast Asian Studies Program. His research interests include cooperation and institution-building in international relations, globalization and regionalization, democratization, political, economic, social, and cultural change in Southeast Asia.Christian von Lübke is professor of Southeast Asian Studies at HTWG Konstanz, Germany. His research on democratization, decentralization, socio-economic development, public reform, and the political economy of corruption draws on interdisciplinary perspectives. Marcel M. Baumann is a former assistant professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science at the University of Freiburg, Germany. His research focuses on conflict studies, with an emphasis on empirical and cross-disciplinary approaches. His areas of expertise include India, Indonesia (Java and the Moluccas), and the Philippines.

• 1. Introduction: Religious Conflicts in Perspective 2. Religion and Peacebuilding: Theory and Analytical Framework 3. Methodology: A Multi-Layered Analysis 4. Root Causes of Religious Conflict in Mindanao and Malaku: History, Grievances and Conflict Trajectories 5. The Cognitive Dimensions of Conflict and Peace in Mindanao and Maluku 6. Church-Based Projects as Game Changers? Attitudes towards Religious Conflict, Peacebuilding, and Reconciliation in Cotabato and Ambon 7. No Reconciliation without Church Projects? Comparative Assessments of Local Experiences and Attitudes in Cotabato and Ambon 8. Church-Based Projects Matter: A Provincial Meso Perspective from Maluku 9. Church-Based Projects, Income, and Education: Factors that Matter for Reconciliation 10. Conclusions and Implications: Strengthening Church Capacities for Peacebuilding