The Problem with Interreligious Dialogue
Plurality, Conflict and Elitism in Hindu-Christian-Muslim Relations
Published on 24. March 2016
Book
Hardback
248 pages
978-1-4742-5640-7 (ISBN)
Description
Muthuraj Swamy provides a fresh perspective on the world religions paradigm and 'interreligious dialogue'. By challenging the assumption that 'world religions' operate as essential entities separate from the lived experiences of practitioners, he shows that interreligious dialogue is in turn problematic as it is built on this very paradigm, and on the myth of religious conflict.
Offering a critique of the idea of 'dialogue' as it has been advanced by its proponents such as religious leaders and theologians whose aims are to promote inter-religious conversation and understanding, the author argues that this approach is 'elitist' and that in reality, people do not make sharp distinctions between religions, nor do they separate political, economic, social and cultural beliefs and practices from their religious traditions.
Case studies from villages in southern India explore how Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities interact in numerous ways that break the neat categories often used to describe each religion. Swamy argues that those who promote dialogue are ostensibly attempting to overcome the separate identities of religious practitioners through understanding, but in fact, they re-enforce them by encouraging a false sense of separation. The Problem with Interreligious Dialogue: Plurality, Conflict and Elitism in Hindu-Christian-Muslim Relations provides an innovative approach to a central issue confronting Religious Studies, combining both theory and ethnography.
Offering a critique of the idea of 'dialogue' as it has been advanced by its proponents such as religious leaders and theologians whose aims are to promote inter-religious conversation and understanding, the author argues that this approach is 'elitist' and that in reality, people do not make sharp distinctions between religions, nor do they separate political, economic, social and cultural beliefs and practices from their religious traditions.
Case studies from villages in southern India explore how Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities interact in numerous ways that break the neat categories often used to describe each religion. Swamy argues that those who promote dialogue are ostensibly attempting to overcome the separate identities of religious practitioners through understanding, but in fact, they re-enforce them by encouraging a false sense of separation. The Problem with Interreligious Dialogue: Plurality, Conflict and Elitism in Hindu-Christian-Muslim Relations provides an innovative approach to a central issue confronting Religious Studies, combining both theory and ethnography.
Reviews / Votes
In a style that is accessible, yet not reductionist, Swamy has successfully shown that most conflicts termed "religious" are anything but that...This work encourages academics and social scientists to undertake similar researches in other areas of religious studies, where many centuries-old constructs have been blindly followed. * Reading Religion * A well-grounded study that raises important questions for the future of interreligious dialogue ... I warmly recommend the book for those interested in interreligious dialogue, as well as interreligious relations and lived religion in India. * Studies in World Christianity * A detailed and thorough critique ... Swamy's writing style is clear and his overall argument diligently signposted throughout ... The book is a salutary and provocative addition to the literature concerning interreligious dialogue, and a good read for those interested in the politics of religion in India (and elsewhere) in all its discursive messiness. * Yana * Stripping away the overgrowth and debris that hid the inherent promise and ongoing potential of interreligious dialogue, and carefully, creatively, provocatively yet committedly using case studies and displaying mastery over a huge amount of literature, the author reopens and interrogates the meaning, limitations, and potential of dialogue in our messy 21st century. Just when one thinks that certain influential ideas and movements have run their course and reached an impasse, mainly because of faulty starting-points and overly simplistic assumptions about that catch-all word "religion", this is a book which skillfully forces us to confront our suppositions and reboot our commitments. * Jayakiran Sebastian, Dean and H. George Anderson Professor of Mission and Cultures *More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
540 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4742-5640-7 (9781474256407)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Muthuraj Swamy
The Problem with Interreligious Dialogue
Plurality, Conflict and Elitism in Hindu-Christian-Muslim Relations
E-Book
03/2016
1st Edition
Bloomsbury Academic
€39.99
Available for download
Person
Muthuraj Swamy is Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of Christian Theology & Ethics in the Union Biblical Seminary (Serampore University), Pune, India. He is the author of Christian Relations to Other Religions: Issues and Interpretations (2015) and Religion-State Relations in Early Christianity and Hindu Nationalism: A Contemporary Appraisal of St. Ambrose of Milan (2015).
Content
Introduction
Part 1: The Problem: The Concept and Practice of Dialogue
1. Dialogue in Post-Colonial India: A Brief Survey
2. The Practice of Dialogue: A Case from Kanyakumari District
Part 2: Limitations of Religious Plurality, Conflict and Elitism
3. 'Religion' and 'World Religions': Some Contemporary Approaches
4. Religious Plurality and Dialogue
5. Are Religions in Conflict?
6. Dialogue and the Myth of Religious Conflicts: A Case Study
7. Dialogue as Elitist
Part 3: Multiple Identities as a Challenger
8. Religion, Multiple Identities and Everyday Relations among Ordinary People
9. After Dialogue
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Part 1: The Problem: The Concept and Practice of Dialogue
1. Dialogue in Post-Colonial India: A Brief Survey
2. The Practice of Dialogue: A Case from Kanyakumari District
Part 2: Limitations of Religious Plurality, Conflict and Elitism
3. 'Religion' and 'World Religions': Some Contemporary Approaches
4. Religious Plurality and Dialogue
5. Are Religions in Conflict?
6. Dialogue and the Myth of Religious Conflicts: A Case Study
7. Dialogue as Elitist
Part 3: Multiple Identities as a Challenger
8. Religion, Multiple Identities and Everyday Relations among Ordinary People
9. After Dialogue
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index