Conflict Transformation Initiatives by Religious Actors A comparative study of Indonesia and the Philippines (in Cooperation with the University of Freiburg)

The central objective of this research project is to take a closer look at religious actors and trace their roles and strategies in conflict transformation processes. To this end, this study draws on comparative empirical analyses in two regions in Southeast Asian countries that stand out for their deep religious cleavages and waves of social conflict: Mindanao in the Philippines and Maluku in Indonesia. While religious zealots fomenting violence are part of the problem, religious actors can nonetheless also play constructive and pivotal roles in reconciliatory efforts and post-conflict peace building. As highlighted in a preparatory literature study (Baumann 2013; project number: WA 96-09), this latter role of religious actors in fragile post-conflict contexts remains greatly understudied and underappreciated in contemporary conflict discussions. This research sets out to shed new light on the post-conflict peace-building activities of religious actors in the Philippines and Indonesia based on a comparative perspective that is methodologically rigorous and empirically grounded. The central questions that motivate this study can be summarized as follows: 1. In which ways, and to what extent, have church-based activities contributed to the ongoing conflict transformation in Mindanao and Maluku? 2. To what extent have these church-based efforts been affected by specific economic, politi-cal or social contexts? To answer these questions, we apply a mixed-method approach that combines qualitative and quan-titative techniques.