Description: This book brings together a variety of perspectives on how religion can be related to violence and war--both in a destructive and constructive way. Religion can justify and mobilize violence--even terrorism or guerilla wars--just like political ideology. But how is such a link between religion and violent behavior established in the first place? How can we go further in understanding this possible connection between religion and war? Is religious peace work just the flip side of religious support of war? Or can peace work be informed by knowing about how religion promotes...

In a world where armed conflict, repression, and authoritarian rule are too frequent, human rights and peace-building present key concepts and agendas for the global and local struggle for peace and development.

But are these agendas congruent? Do they support each other? Many organizations, states, and individuals have experienced how priorities of one agenda create friction with the other. For instance, are justice and reconciliation incompatible goals? If not, do they lead to counteracting initiatives? How can local and international actors develop support to societies that search a way...

Is ""political reconciliation"" a new tool for peace-building and justice--in peace processes and other complex social reconstruction efforts-after dictatorship or civil wars? Or is it just another term for established practices like negotiation, conflict resolution, and cooperation?
 
Reconciliation processes after conflict and war can be very different in form and content. Kjell-Ake Nordquist analyzes the concept of reconciliation from a political perspective and outlines an understanding of its characteristics in a comparison with its closest ""conceptual relatives"": forgiveness and...