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Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics This page intentionally left blank Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics edited by thomas banchoff 1 2008 3 Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2008 by Oxford University Press, Inc. Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Religious pluralism, globalization, and world politics / edited by Thomas Banchoff. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-532340-5; ISBN-13: 978-0-19-532341-2 (pbk.) i. Religions—Relations. 2. Religious pluralism. 3. Globalization. 4. International relations. I. Banchoff, Thomas F., 1964– BL 410.R44 2008 201'.5—dc22 2008002473 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Acknowledgments Few issues are more important and less understood than the role of religion in world affairs. Religious diversity has long been a fact of life in national and international politics. But the eruption of reli- gious issues and actors into the public sphere—a trend accelerated in the aftermath of September 11, 2001—caught many observers by surprise, scholars included. Religious pluralism that goes beyond mere diversity to encompass the interaction of religious communities in society and politics is deepening in the context of globalization. It is sparking new forms of confl ict and collaboration at the intersection of the religious and the secular. And it is reframing old questions about religion’s impact on peace and violence, democracy and human rights, and economic and social development—questions that will remain on the global agenda for decades to come. This book brings together leading scholars across disciplines to address some of those questions. It grows out of the conference “The New Religious Pluralism in World Politics,” held in March 2006 in Washington, D.C., and sponsored by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University. The friendly and pointed exchanges at the conference, and the willingness of the par- ticipants to revise their papers substantially for publication, made this book possible. It is the second of two volumes, based on Berkley Center conferences, that explore the dynamics of religious pluralism in today’s world. The fi rst, Democracy and the New Religious Pluralism (Oxford University Press, 2007), focused on the transatlantic experience. vi acknowledgments This exploration of religious pluralism, globalization, and world politics has benefi ted greatly from the invaluable criticisms and suggestions of many colleagues inside and outside Georgetown, including Liz Bucar, José Casanova, Thomas Farr, Michael Kessler, Katherine Marshall, Tulasi Srinivas, and Chris Vukicevich. Kyle Layman, Luis Felipe Mantilla, and Amy Vander Vliet provided indispensable editorial assistance in preparing the manuscript. Theo Calde- rara of Oxford University Press generously supported the project from start to fi nish. This book is dedicated to the memory of Father Robert Drinan, S. J., a tire- less human rights advocate during his years in Congress and later as a member of the Georgetown University Law Center faculty. Father Drinan was an inspi- rational presence at the March 2006 conference that gave rise to this volume. Contents Contributors, ix 1. Introduction: Religious Pluralism in World Affairs, 3 Thomas Banchoff Part I Challenges of Religious Pluralism in a Global Era 2. Causes of Quarrel: What’s Special about Religious Disputes?, 41 Kwame Anthony Appiah 3. On the Possibility of Religious Pluralism, 65 Pratap Bhanu Mehta 4. Toleration, Proselytizing, and the Politics of Recognition, 89 Jean Bethke Elshtain 5. The Rights and Limits of Proselytism in the New Religious World Order, 105 John Witte Jr. Part II Religious Actors in World Politics 6. Building Sustainable Peace: The Roles of Local and Transnational Religious Actors, 125 R. Scott Appleby 7. Religious Actors and Transitional Justice, 155 Leslie Vinjamuri and Aaron P. Boesenecker viii contents 8. Religion and Global Development: Intersecting Paths, 195 Katherine Marshall 9. Peaceful Movements in the Muslim World, 229 Thomas Michel, S. J. 10. Trans-state Muslim Movements and Militant Extremists in an Era of Soft Power, 253 John O. Voll 11. Religious Pluralism and the Politics of a Global Cloning Ban, 275 Thomas Banchoff 12. U.S. Foreign Policy and Global Religious Pluralism, 297 Elizabeth H. Prodromou Index, 325 Contributors Kwame Anthony Appiah is the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Philosophy and the University Center for Human Values at Princeton University. R. Scott Appleby is Professor of history and Director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Thomas Banchoff is Associate Professor of government and Direc- tor of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University. Aaron P. Boesenecker is a doctoral candidate in government at Georgetown University. Jean Bethke Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Katherine Marshall is a Senior Fellow and Visiting Associate Professor at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University. Pratap Bhanu Mehta is President and Chief Executive of the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. Thomas Michel, S. J., is the Secretary of Interreligious Dialogue for the Society of Jesus in Rome. x contributors Elizabeth H. Prodromou is Assistant Professor of international relations and a Research Associate of the Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University. Leslie Vinjamuri is Lecturer in international relations, Department of Politics and International Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Uni- versity of London. John O. Voll is Professor of Islamic history and Associate Director of the Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. John Witte Jr. is Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law and Ethics and Director of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics This page intentionally left blank 1 Introduction: Religious Pluralism in World Affairs Thomas Banchoff To think religion and world politics is often to think violence. The attacks of September 11, 2001, suicide bombings in the Middle East, sectarian clashes in Kashmir, civil war in the Balkans, bloodshed in Nigeria and Indonesia—these are prominent associations. In these cases and others, links between religion and violence are not hard to fi nd. Political commitments with divine sanction often brook no com- promise. For fanatical religious minorities, violence for a higher cause has a ready-made justifi cation. And members of the wider community who identify with the grievances of militants often lend their sup- port, overt or tacit, to the use of force. Religion is never the sole cause of violence. It intersects in explosive ways with territorial disputes; unstable and oppressive institutions; economic and social inequalities; and ethnic, cultural, and linguistic divisions. But today as in previ- ous eras, passionate religious identities and commitments have often served to exacerbate tensions and promote bloodshed.1 Less visible, but no less signifi cant, is the peaceful engage- ment of religious communities in contemporary world affairs. At a declaratory level, leaders drawn from the world’s leading religious traditions—Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Hindu, and Buddhist—have long endorsed ideals of peace, human dignity, equality, freedom, and solidarity. Today, more than at any time in history, exponents of these and other traditions are promoting confl ict resolution, human rights, and economic and social development in practice—within national borders but also across them. The Good Friday agreement 4 introduction in Northern Ireland, the resolution of Mozambique’s civil war, and support for the Millennium Development Goals—all provide examples of transnational religious engagement, not in isolation but through interaction with other reli- gious and secular actors in state and society. Riding the wave of globalization, religious actors have deployed new communications technologies and invoked human rights norms to mobilize public support, reframe debates, and sup- port winning political and policy coalitions. Peaceful engagement of this kind should not be confused with harmony. It can oppose different interests and ethics, generating competition and controversy. But it is nonviolent. Less likely to make the newspapers, it has a far-reaching, if underappreciated,