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Religions
Special Issues
Interreligious Dialogue: Future Perspective and New Social Actors
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Interreligious Dialogue: Future Perspective and New Social Actors

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 December 2022) | Viewed by 13470

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Elisabetta Ruspini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology and Social Research, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
Interests: feminism; gender; women’s studies; women, religion, and interfaith dialogue; generations; reli-gious values and beliefs across generations
Dr. Rassa Ghaffari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology and Social Research, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, 20126 Milan, Italy
Interests: gender; generations; Islam; the Middle East

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of the journal Religions aims to offer an interdisciplinary space for reflection and debate in which the issue of interreligious dialogue, its current transformations, and future perspectives can be explored. We consider interreligious dialogue as a significant component of multi-faith societies facing increasing levels of cultural pluralism (Giordan and Lynch, 2019).

The issue of interreligious dialogue is of crucial importance in understanding the future of religion. The religious profile of the world is rapidly changing, driven mainly by differences in fertility rates, the size of youth populations among the world’s major religions, as well as by people switching faiths and migration processes (Pew Research Center, 2015). Interreligious dialogue has become an increasingly visible topic in the global religious landscape. At a time of growing global tensions, recurring crises, risks, and uncertainties, interreligious dialogue is a key policy tool to combat social conflicts attributed to religion, intolerance, discrimination, racism, sexism, and strengthen peace building. Many religions promote interreligious engagement and interreligious learning and teaching.

This Special Issue intends to reflect on the concept of interfaith dialogue and its future. How interreligious dialogue can address emerging global social and political issues; the role of new social actors, such as women, young people, ethnic minorities, and activist groups; the potential of interreligious dialogue in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); and how to promote interreligious dialogue in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. We welcome both theoretical and empirical papers on one of more of the following topics:

  • how different religions understand interreligious dialogue;
  • sociodemographic trends and interreligious dialogue;
  • the role played by women and the younger generations in promoting interreligious dialogue;
  • interreligious dialogue and gender equality;
  • interreligious dialogue as a peacebuilding tool in conflict situations;
  • interreligious dialogue and migration;
  • interreligious dialogue and sustainable development;
  • new religious movements and interreligious dialogue;
  • interreligious dialogue and emerging information technologies;
  • the potential of interreligious dialogue to address the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic;
  • new theoretical and methodological perspectives for the study of interreligious dialogue;
  • interreligious dialogue and the future of religion.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editors ([email protected]; [email protected]) or to the Religions editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Tentative completion schedule:

  • Abstract submission deadline: May 30th, 2022
  • Notification of abstract acceptance: June 30th, 2022
  • Full manuscript deadline: December 15th, 2022

References

Giordan, G., & Lynch, A. P. (2019). Interreligious dialogue: From religion to geopolitics. In Volume 10: Interreligious Dialogue (pp. 1-9). Brill.

Pew Research Center (2015). The Future of World Religions: Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050, available at https://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/religious-projections-2010-2050/

Prof. Dr. Elisabetta Ruspini
Dr. Rassa Ghaffari
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • interreligious dialogue
  • gender
  • generations
  • future

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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9 pages, 254 KiB  
Article
The Contribution of Women to Peace in the Middle East: The Experience of the Movement Women Wage Peace (WWP)
by Elena Lea Bartolini De Angeli
Religions 2023, 14(7), 820; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070820 - 22 Jun 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2012
Abstract
In the context of the many movements with a strong female presence promoting peace in the Middle East, the movement Women Wage Peace (WWP) currently represents the largest and most impactful organization in the country. Founded in the aftermath of the 50-day Gaza [...] Read more.
In the context of the many movements with a strong female presence promoting peace in the Middle East, the movement Women Wage Peace (WWP) currently represents the largest and most impactful organization in the country. Founded in the aftermath of the 50-day Gaza War/Operation Protective Edge of 2014, Women Wage Peace has grown to 45,000 Israeli members, the most significant grassroots peace movement in Israel today. WWP’s theory of change refracts the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and its resolution, through a gendered lens. The movement is non-partisan and does not support any specific solution to the conflict. Instead, it empowers women from diverse communities to build trust across divides, leading to a unified demand for diplomatic negotiation, with full representation of women, to end the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. WWP enables very diverse women to unite with the aim of taking their own and their children’s futures into their own hands: women from the left, center, and right, young and old, from the center and periphery of the country, religious and secular, Jewish, Arab, Druze, and Bedouin. The movement continues to refine its non-hierarchical structure, distributing its work among thousands of volunteers who serve on regional and/or mission-specific teams, including Government Engagement, Foreign Affairs, Digital Communication, Special Projects, and Strategy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interreligious Dialogue: Future Perspective and New Social Actors)
29 pages, 457 KiB  
Article
Documentary Film as Interreligious Dialogue: A Cognitive Perspective
by Jenn Lindsay
Religions 2023, 14(3), 293; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14030293 - 21 Feb 2023
Viewed by 4386
Abstract
Research and personal experience affirm that watching a movie can change the way someone lives their life. Documentary storytelling is a multidimensional change agent, a digital media artifact that is rooted in real communities, real lives, and real stories. Because documentary is rooted [...] Read more.
Research and personal experience affirm that watching a movie can change the way someone lives their life. Documentary storytelling is a multidimensional change agent, a digital media artifact that is rooted in real communities, real lives, and real stories. Because documentary is rooted in the human social world, watching it is a cognitively, psychologically, emotionally, socially, and politically complicated act. Thus, it is a potent medium for stimulating discourse, reflection, and behavioral change. This article explores the power of visual storytelling and positive media representation as a Parasocial-Relational form of interreligious dialogue and delves into practical application as it contemplates best practices for how filmmakers might harness that power, reviewing literature on the possible social, cognitive, and neurobiological impact of documentary. This interdisciplinary cognitive-sociological theory of change posits documentary film as a lever for increased interreligious competence because of its unique ability to disarm with visual storytelling and engaging characters, leading to a potentially reflexive experience of humanization and perceptual shift. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interreligious Dialogue: Future Perspective and New Social Actors)
16 pages, 308 KiB  
Article
Living Interfaith Dialogue during the Lockdown: The Role of Women in the Italian Case
by Andrea Casavecchia, Chiara Carbone and Alba Francesca Canta
Religions 2023, 14(2), 252; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14020252 - 14 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3076
Abstract
The aim of this article is to present some results of a study conducted in Italy exploring interfaith dialogue during and after the 2020 lockdown. To continue ritual practices during the COVID-19 emergency, several religious communities rethought all their forms of communication. They [...] Read more.
The aim of this article is to present some results of a study conducted in Italy exploring interfaith dialogue during and after the 2020 lockdown. To continue ritual practices during the COVID-19 emergency, several religious communities rethought all their forms of communication. They have shifted their activities mainly to the internet. Often, these transformations changed the forms of religious practices, but did not alter pre-existing cosmologies and theologies. How has physical distance affected interfaith dialogue, and what role did women play? To answer these questions, the research used semi-structured interviews with key informants, including opinion leaders of religious communities and experts. The analysis of the interviews paid special attention to the active role played by women in building bridges between different religions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interreligious Dialogue: Future Perspective and New Social Actors)

Other

Jump to: Research

45 pages, 503 KiB  
Essay
From Religious Bubble to Interreligious Dialogue: A Personal Story of Transformation
by Cornelis Hulsman
Religions 2024, 15(1), 28; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010028 - 24 Dec 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1714
Abstract
This paper argues that interreligious dialogue through study and friendships across the religious divide makes participants less susceptible to religious and cultural misinformation that is often used to maintain social bubbles, in which members draw clear boundaries between “us” and “them”. Differences between [...] Read more.
This paper argues that interreligious dialogue through study and friendships across the religious divide makes participants less susceptible to religious and cultural misinformation that is often used to maintain social bubbles, in which members draw clear boundaries between “us” and “them”. Differences between social groups can culminate in a struggle between “good” and “evil” that can escalate into tension and violence. Preventing tensions and conflicts requires respect for differences, willingness to engage in dialogue, and a sound understanding of what religion is and the historical processes that have determined its development, distinguishing between empirical facts and images to which believers adhere. Because the author is a Dutch sociologist turned journalist from a conservative Christian family involved in interreligious dialogue in the Netherlands, Israel, and Egypt, the literature review presents contemporary religious developments in all three countries. The literature review is flanked by the author’s personal narrative on the events that changed his views on truth and spirituality, making him more aware of the commonalities between peoples of different beliefs and leading him to a lifelong commitment to interreligious and intercultural dialogue. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interreligious Dialogue: Future Perspective and New Social Actors)
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