In search of solutions to religious conflicts

"uniaktuell": You are researching the role of religion in political and social conflicts in your IRC. What is new about your question?
Katharina Heyden and Martino Mona: So far, research has often restricted itself to the question whether religions are misused in conflicts for economic and political purposes or whether religions have the potential for conflicts themselves. We assume that religions can both cause and exacerbate conflicts and also influence them positively. Therefore, it is important to understand which historical and political conditions cause religions to develop their conflict triggering potentials and which cause them to transform conflicts positively. We are going to examine how religious conflicts were handled in the past and why certain solutions are successful or not particularly successful.

Why can your question only be answered in an interdisciplinary and/or interfaculty way?
Conflict research can only be conducted expediently using interdisciplinary and comparative methods. This particularly applies to conflicts with religious elements. We can only understand them fully if we switch between religious insider perspectives and the social and cultural science perspective. By contrast, if research is conducted in parallel and not with each other, both sides develop their own terminologies and compartmentalized discourses, which makes constructive dialogue and viable solutions difficult, if not impossible.

What exactly will the collaboration look like?
The day to day research work is being done in interdisciplinary research groups of three to six researchers each. They are each guided by at least two professors from different subjects. We called this type of cooperation "grassroots interdisciplinarity" in the application. Furthermore, there will be fixed regular meeting during the semester and different conferences. The highlights will be the four annual conferences, which will also raise the profile of the IRC in the City of Bern.

Where are the challenges in interdisciplinary and/or interfaculty working in your specific question?
The complexity of the topic and the interdisciplinary approach make the various sub-projects very diverse. This may lead to us losing sight of our common goal. To prevent this, we have firstly placed importance on a shared theoretical approach and the standardized use of the key concepts "religion" and "coping". Secondly, the sub-project leaders complete a questionnaire every year, which contains information about the progress of the projects, preliminary results, difficulties and further cooperation opportunities.

How would you describe the best possible result?
Ideally, we will be able to present a historically and empirically sound model that discriminatingly describes the role of religion in conflicts after four years. Tools could then be developed on this basis to analyse religious conflicts.

What benefits could your research results have for society?
We are currently experiencing a debate on the "return of the religious" in public and the simultaneous loss of importance of religions in modern, western influenced societies. As our IRC makes an important contribution to this debate, it is of fundamental social significance. Our analysis tools will not only help the political public to have a better understanding of the actual religious dimensions but also develop effective solutions specific to the context, not least in dealing with religious fundamentalist terrorism.

To what extent is your question based on the strategy of the University of Bern?
The University of Bern is highlighting the urgent need for targeted interdisciplinary research in terms of feasible solutions to religious conflicts with this IRC. It is closely linked to the strategic plan of the University of Bern. On the one hand, it builds on the University of Bern’s outstanding reputation in the field of "intercultural knowledge", one of its five priority topics. On the other hand, the development of solution strategies is also embedded in another of the priority topic of the University of Bern: "politics and administration".

What are you most excited about with the interfaculty research cooperation?
The inspiring exchange with young researchers from all over the world and esteemed colleagues from a range of subjects. The lively discussions, which – in light of the serious and controversial topic – will be conducted with care, perspicacity, empathy and a much needed dash of humour. And the many walks between UniTobler, UniS and VonRoll in the next four years.