Research On Religion » civil society

Jamie Aten on Religion and Disasters (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Sun, 03 Sep 2017 08:00:28 +0000

When disaster strikes your community, who ya gonna call? Churches and other religious organizations, that’s who! As an integral part of civil society, religious congregations are often the best positioned to be first responders in an emergency, and to be the organizations that can offer long-term recovery assistance long after other emergency responders have moved on. Prof. Jamie Aten, the Rech Associate Professor of Psychology at Wheaton College, discusses his experience with natural and man-made disasters and what churches can do to assist in such emergencies. We begin with Jamie’s own incredible story of how he came upon this topic, moving to southern Mississippi in the late summer of 2005, mere days before Hurricane Katrina made landfall. His experience with that storm, and his ability to cull together his research team to study how congregations responded to that event, led him to focus on how religious groups play a role in disaster planning and recovery. Prof. Aten emphasizes that disaster assistance isn’t merely about tangible resources such as water bottles and blankets, but involves a network of relationships. He draws upon a variety of examples from his research and personal experience to show how churches need to understand their own ministerial strengths, and play to those in developing an emergency response plan. For example, congregations that devote a great deal of attention to elderly care would best be situated to help with senior citizens during a crisis. He also talks about the importance of developing a disaster response plan and involving members of the congregation who have relevant skills; laying all the planning and coordination on the shoulders of a pastor is not necessarily a good way to go about this task. Jamie raises the example of a “chainsaw ministry” that helped with tree clearing and construction-related issues following one storm. He further talks about experiences in other parts of the world including Japan, where there is not a strong Christian culture, and the Philippines, where asking poor communities to plan for disasters is not a realistic option (as storing food amongst a starving population is not the best use of resources). Throughout our discussion, Prof. Aten mentions the role of resilience and fortitude, and connects this to how churches — as members of a community — are often best situated to provide these needed emotional and spiritual resources. Moreover, unlike government agencies or non-governmental organizations that often must leave an affected area by a certain date, local religious groups can continue to provide community support over the long-term, including the celebration of anniversaries that are important for people to cope with traumatic events. We finish with Jamie’s personal reflection on his cancer diagnosis and what he has learned over the course of his academic career. Recorded: August 1, 2016.

The Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton.

Disaster Ministry Handbook, by Jamie Aten and David Boan.

Spirituality and the Therapeutic Process, by Jamie Aten and Mark Leach.

Spiritually Oriented Interventions for Counseling and Psychotherapy, by Jamie Aten and Mark McMinn.

Culture and the Therapeutic Process, by Mark Leach and Jamie Aten.

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Melissa Matthes on Sermons after Tragedies.

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Religious Liberty and Violent Religious Extremism

tonygill — Sun, 05 Mar 2017 09:00:32 +0000

Can religious liberty serve as an antidote to religious violence extremism? This was the question posed to a panel of four scholars at a symposium sponsored by the Religious Freedom Project at the Berkeley Center for Religion, Peace, & World Affairs (Georgetown University). Thomas Farr, the current director of the Religious Freedom Institute, moderates a lively discussion that includes Daniel Philpott (Notre Dame), William Inboden (UT-Austin), Allen Hertzke (Oklahoma), and Sahar Aziz (Texas A&M). The discussion ranges widely with a focus on human rights, the Arab Spring, the Muslim Brotherhood and the possibility of democratic governance. Prof. Dan Philpott begins the conversation by noting an empirical pattern between the lack of religious liberty and violent extremism that has arisen amongst Islamic nations in recent decades, but cautions individuals against thinking this relationship is related to Islam per se. Instead, he places an emphasis on the lack of freedom and democratic governance. Prof. Inboden then turns the discussion to the issue of radicalization and terrorism, pointing out that the U.S. has not yet developed an effective policy of counter-radicalization. Thomas Farr then turns to Dr. Hertzke who argues there is a strong empirical linkage between religious repression and violence. Prof. Sahar Aziz then joins in to clarify some of the dimensions of what “terrorism” means and asserts that religious freedom is actually connected to a wide range of other freedoms. The discussion takes off from there and includes a number of interesting theoretical and empirical observations. An audience question & answer period follows the interchange of scholars. Recorded: November 15, 2016.

Religious Freedom Institute.

Video of the panel discussion on YouTube.

Thomas Farr’s bio at the Religious Freedom Institute.

Daniel Philpott’s bio at the University of Notre Dame.

William Inboden’s bio at the University of Texas, Austin.

Allen Hertzke’s bio at the University of Oklahoma.

Sahar Aziz’s bio at Texas A&M University.

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Dan Philpott on Defending Religious Freedom.

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William Inboden on Religious Liberty, Foreign Policy, and the Arab Spring.

Allen Hertzke on Religious Liberty.

Thomas Farr on Religion, Religious Liberty, and Foreign Policy.

Monica Toft on Religion, Terrorism, & Civil War.

John Owen on Confronting Political Islam, Historical Lessons.

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Ani Sarkissian on Politics & Religious Civil Society in Turkey (Encore Presentation)

tonygill — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 23:49:39 +0000

Program Note: We are still on break due to a heavy travel schedule and other professional obligations. We do have some new episodes on the way, so stay tuned and tell your friends and family to check us out!

In a region that appears to be in great flux, Turkey stands out as one of the more stable societies in the region. Nonetheless, significant changes have taken place recently in a country that straddles both Europe and the Islamic Middle East. Prof. Ani Sarkissian, an associate professor of political science at Michigan State University and core faculty member of the Muslim Studies Program and the Center for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at MSU, returns to our show to discuss these interesting changes and put them in historical context.

We begin our discussion by travelling back in time to the days of the Ottoman Empire, and its rule over a multi-ethnic conglomeration. Prof. Sarkissian begins with some of the reforms that the Ottoman caliphate attempted to undertake in the 19th century and then details the collapse of the empire and the rise of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923. Turkey’s post-Ottoman regime shared many traits in common with other modernizing countries at the time, including a desire to push secularism as official state policy. Ani lays out a number of the reforms pursued by the Kemalist regime as they set the stage for how the state and civil society will interact over the course of the 20th century.

Following the death of Kemal Atatürk in 1938, we follow the course of Turkey’s autocratic political history including a series of military coups and efforts of civil society to organize. Dr. Sarkissian notes that several political parties in opposition to military rule began to form in the 1950s, provoking the 1960 coup. This is followed once again by stirrings amongst the population in the 1960s with the creation of several Islamist parties, led by Necmettin Erbakan. These parties were outlawed, yet they began to set an imprint on Turkey’s civil society. We discuss how a “religious reawakening” was occurring throughout the region at this time and how political regimes that previously rested their legitimacy on secular nationalism began to adopt religious overtones to their rule. This was also true of Turkey, wherein the regime attempted to forge a Turkish-Islamist synthesis beginning in the 1970s.

A similar dance between the autocratic rule of the military and civil society occurred throughout the next two decades, eventually leading to a number of laws that liberalized the rules under which civic associations could form and operate. This was not a full-scale liberalization, though, and the 1997 “Postmodern Coup” placed important limits on the nature of non-governmental organizations and political parties. The most important of these rules for our purposes in this interview was the prohibition on groups that had overtly religious or ethnic identities. This occurs at a time when the former Islamist movement and Welfare Party spearheaded by Erbakan splits into two movements, one being a traditional Islamist group (Felicity Party) and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) that took a less Islamist overtone, yet was still associated with civic groups that were interested in religious issues.

Ani documents her research on how civil society has had to operate under these restrictions. The reforms that were meant to open up Turkey’s civil society ironically result in many independent religious groups being captured by the AKP party. Prof. Sarkissian notes that this is not how civil society is supposed to act as a check upon governmental authority in a flourishing democracy. We discuss the rise of the Gülen movement and its break with Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government. We also cover the recent protests that have erupted in the country, why they have fizzled out, and what Erdoğan’s recent decision (as of July 1 when this podcast was recorded) to run for president means for Turkish democracy.

We finish our conversation with some speculation about Turkey’s role in the Middle East, with particular attention to the recent assertion of Kurdish autonomy in Iraq and ongoing conflict in Syria. While attempts by Prime Minister Erdoğan to assert his leadership in the Muslim world has not been all that successful, Turkey still remains a key player. Ani ends with some optimistic notes about Turkish civil society and the future. Recorded: July 1, 2014.

The Variety of Religious Repression: Why Governments Restrict Religion, by Ani Sarkissian.

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Jamie Aten on Religion and Disasters

tonygill — Sun, 14 Aug 2016 08:00:03 +0000

The Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton.

Disaster Ministry Handbook, by Jamie Aten and David Boan.

Spirituality and the Therapeutic Process, by Jamie Aten and Mark Leach.

Spiritually Oriented Interventions for Counseling and Psychotherapy, by Jamie Aten and Mark McMinn.

Culture and the Therapeutic Process, by Mark Leach and Jamie Aten.

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Jim McGuffey on Church Security.

John Rees on International Development and Faith-Based Organizations

tonygill — Sun, 28 Dec 2014 09:00:13 +0000

Following World War II, a number of countries came together to promote the reconstruction of Europe and, shortly thereafter, the economic development of the Third World by creating institutions such as the World Bank. What role have faith-based organizations (FBOs) played in this effort to alleviate poverty and promote social flourishing? Prof. John Rees of the University of Notre Dame, Australia discusses his personal work with FBOs and his scholarly research on the topic.

We begin with some background information about Prof. Rees. John notes that a trip to the United States to play basketball set him in motion down an interesting path wherein he worked for an international FBO — Tear Australia — and then to a Ph.D. in international politics where he sought to understand what role religion plays in international development efforts. As observed by other podcast guests, both John and Tony point out that religion was a rather neglected aspect of foreign policy for most of the post-WWII era, be it in terms of international security or economic development. While September 11 prompted more scholars to think about the role of religion in the realm of security studies, John sought to bring attention to the role that confessional groups played in grassroots development and how larger FBOs were seeking to partner with larger transnational institutions. We spend a bit of time discussing what the nature of “economic development” entails with John noting how religious individuals tend to provide a broader definition than merely the “GDP growth data” that more narrow economic analyses tend to zero in on. John notes that many religious leaders point out that “we don’t live in an economy, we live in a society” and that development institutions need to think about this.

For those not well versed in post-war economic development efforts, John lays out a brief history of “international financial institutions” (IFIs). While first starting with a focus on reconstructing Europe and avoiding further wars, attention of these IFIs soon shifted to the developing world as decolonization was presenting all sorts of new challenges. A number of the early efforts by these IFIs to give out block grants to governments, emphasize structural adjustment, and promote “good governance” were met with criticism and resistance by organizations within these developing nations, oftentimes by groups with a religious bent. John mentions the impact of liberation theology in Latin America as well as efforts of the Jubilee 2000 movement. These protests, beginning in the 1960s and continuing through the 1990s, made some folks aware in the international development communities that religious groups located at the grassroots possessed unique local knowledge and connections that could improve efforts to promote economic development and social flourishing. This realization, championed by the World Faiths Development Dialogue and folks like the World Bank’s president James Wolfensohn, opened the door to greater cooperation between FBOs and IFIs. John further points out that religiously-engaged folks who worked within these institutions also were promoting ideas for greater partnerships between the secular-oriented international institutions and religious charities.

Our conversation also covers various difficulties that are involved in developing partnerships between IFIs and FBOs. John provides a number of cautionary insights into this relationship by noting that religious actors and faith communities are often not the same thing. Moreover, there are differences in vision between large FBOs that are located in the “global North,” formal FBOs that are headquartered in the “global South,” and grassroots groups that are not plugged into extensive hierarchical development networks. He notes that FBOs in the North tend to absorb the definition and priorities of formal IFIs like the World Bank. This is, in part, a natural outgrowth of institutional actors preferring to work with those they know and understand, and the incentives created to conform to a set of standards when allocating development funds. Much of the early efforts to engage FBOs in international development were based upon pre-existing notions of development. Nonetheless, John’s research shows that there is a movement to engage less formal actors in civil society into partnerships. We spend time discussing the difficulties of engaging some organizations, such as Hezbollah, that do provide social services to local communities but also are engaged in violent conflict. John provides a handful of examples of where some of these grassroots efforts have been successful such as the Aga Khan Group and the Avina Foundation.

Our conversation concludes with John’s thoughts on the direction of international development efforts and the role that FBOs and grassroots groups have to play. He shares some pessimism and worries about whether religious groups might be co-opted by the efforts and definitions of the IFIs, losing some of their grassroots leverage and appeal. On the other hand, there is also a case to be made for optimism in this area as more groups enter the conversation and provide a patchwork of visions that help to check and balance top-down efforts to impose a certain definition of development. Recorded: December 16, 2014.

Religion in International Politics and Development: The World Bank and Faith Institutions, by John Rees.

Contemporary Challenges in Australian Security, by Daniel Baldino, Juliet Pietsch, David Lundberg, & John Rees

Tear Australia (an FBO mentioned in the podcast).

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Ani Sarkissian on Politics and Religious Civil Society in Turkey

tonygill — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 08:00:37 +0000

In a region that appears to be in great flux, Turkey stands out as one of the more stable societies in the region. Nonetheless, significant changes have taken place recently in a country that straddles both Europe and the Islamic Middle East. Prof. Ani Sarkissian, assistant professor of political science at Michigan State University and core faculty member of the Muslim Studies Program and the Center for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies at MSU, returns to our show to discuss these interesting changes and put them in historical context.

RELATED LINKS

Prof. Ani Sarkissian’s bio at The Michigan State University’s Department of Political Science.

Prof. Sarkissian’s project on Charismatic Catholicism at USC’s Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative.

The Religious Freedom Project.

“Why Strict Religion-State Separation Is Neither Real nor Ideal,” a blog post at Cornerstone by Ani Sarkissian.

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Ani Sarkissian on Religion in the Post-Soviet World.

Religious Freedom and Social Flourishing: A Panel Discussion.

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Ann Wainscott on the Politics of Islam in Morocco.

Kevan Harris on Iran’s Islamic Revolution and Green Movement.

Alessandra Gonzalez on Islamic Feminism.

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Kevan Harris on Iran’s Islamic Revolution and Green Movement

tonygill — Sun, 22 Jun 2014 08:00:04 +0000

With Iran in the news a lot as of late, we take a look at this nation’s recent history dating back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the regime’s consolidation, and the recent Green “Revolution” or, perhaps more appropriately, “movement” with Kevan Harris, associate director of Princeton University’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies.

The conversation begins with Tony asking Prof. Harris about Iran’s current influence in the Middle East region and whether the country’s Islamic revolution has cast a long shadow over contemporary events. Kevan’s answer is nuanced and surprising. Comparing the events in Iran with earlier revolutions, such as the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, he talks about how after efforts to export revolution were frustrated the regime instead sought to build “political Islam in one country” and that Iranian realpolitik is not simply about political Islam. He also highlights how there are two competing schools of thought existing within Iran’s diplomatic corps: (1) the best offense is a good defense; and (2) the best defense is a good offense. He notes how the current president, Hassan Rouhani, tends to fall in the former camp and how his policies have a great deal of continuity with the secular Pahlavi regime prior to the ’79 revolution. Our discussion throughout the entire interview is not only informed by a historical understanding of a single nation, but is a tour de force of social scientific theories of politics and social mobilization.

We then take our social science microscope to look at the causes of the 1979 revolution. Kevan retains a fairly skeptical view of structural theories of revolution and places emphasis instead on day-to-day events and how they matter in terms of social mobilization. Interestingly, Iran witnessed significantly more grassroots social mobilization than any other prior 20th century revolution (and even the French Revolution). Prof. Harris covers the prior state-building experience of Iran, and notes that 1979 was not so much a case of state breakdown (as many classic revolutions were), but was an effect of a massive social mobilization. He discusses the role of the “bazaar-mosque” alliance and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

The stabilization and consolidation of the revolutionary regime becomes our next topic. Our discussion covers the role of the military, religious legitimacy, and the need to absorb the massive mobilization of the revolutionary era. Kevan’s own research covers the importance of the state’s ability to build a rather extensive welfare system that affected all levels of Iranian society, especially the middle class. In doing so, he casts doubt upon alternative explanations for regime stabilization that rely upon religious legitimacy and/or oil. Kevan points to how both the state “pushed down” into elements of society that the shah’s regime had previously ignored, but also how different social groups “pushed up” to create a “social contract” that promised social mobility at both the individual and national level — a vision wherein people would see their own lives improve as the Iranian nation would become a more modern state on the world stage. The typical vision of an authoritarian clerisy lording over a passive population is challenged significantly by Prof. Harris.

This fascinating discussion of how the Islamic regime has managed to negotiate its power over society then informs our examination of what has been called the “Green Revolution” following the 2009 elections. Kevan points out that it is hard to call it a “revolution” given that it really has not had a transformative effect on the polity and thus would best be considered a “movement.” Tony asks about why the color green is prominent in this imagery and learns a thing or two about Islam. We also take a more personal turn as Kevan shares his own experiences of being plopped down in the middle of this popular uprising only two days after the election. A discussion of how sociologists approach fieldwork follows. We then explore why the Green movement dissipates rather quickly as compared to the 1979 mobilization. The explanation proffered by Prof. Harris relies on newer understandings of social movements and their micro-mobilizing nature. He talks of “brokered exuberance” and that the failure of the protests to persist were not solely a matter of selective state repression.

Our conversation finishes with some speculation on the future of Iran and the Middle East region as a whole. He notes the interesting irony that Iran has been the most stable of countries in the Middle East at a time when many regimes seem to be unraveling. Recorded: June 18, 2014.

“How to Reform a Theocracy: A Domestic Playbook for Iran’s Moderate President,” by Kevan Harris in Foreign Affairs.

“An Election Uprising in Iran,” by Kevan Harris.

The Cup, the Gun, and the Crescent: Social Welfare and Civil Unrest in Muslim Societies, edited by Crabtree, Parker, and Azman. (Contains a chapter by Kevan Harris.)

Neither Gods nor Emperors, by Craig Calhoun (mentioned in interview).

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