Articles tagged as "Community"

ACI Africa – Pentecostal Pastors and the Crisis of Political Authority in Africa

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Since January of this year, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Nigeria has hosted Divine Encounter and Shiloh Hour, a special monthly ministration and prayer service, in Abuja, the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory (FCT). April’s version of Divine Encounter took place in the city’s 60,000 capacity National Stadium complex against a backdrop of a prolonged fuel scarcity that virtually crippled social life and economic activities across the country. Read the full article »

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Introducing ACI Africa


In its broad conception the Authority, Community, and Identity (ACI) Research project is about Africa’s complex modernities. Modernity is not one thing (see, for example, Eisentadt’s multiple modernities thesis). African individuals and communities find themselves at the intersection of multiple modern, global, local, traditional, secular and religious forces. Read the full article »

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Introducing ACI Indonesia


After a careful process of selecting the core research team, the Contending Modernities Authority, Community, and Identity (ACI) working group on Indonesia formally launched last year to begin a three-year research project to better understand the complex issues facing plural societies and to foster possible collaborations among various actors, religious and secular, at different levels: local and global, individuals and communities. Read the full article »

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The Un-Dutchable Challenge of Pluralism


In recent years pluralist co-existence has been pushed to the center of political and social discussion in the Netherlands, as once “received” understandings of integration, including various models of multiculturalism, are called into question. For Dutch society, otherwise known for its pragmatism and tolerance, the path forward to a more effective pluralist co-existence remains uncertain. Read the full article »

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Struggling to Mieux Vivre Ensemble: The Sobering Reality of France’s new Plurality


2015 was a devastating year for France. The horrific Paris attacks of January and November gave rise to a climate of fear, suspicion, and social distrust, and present formidable and as of yet unresolved challenges for leaders and social actors to find new and more effective strategies to mieux vivre ensemble (live better together). Read the full article »

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The New Western Plurality and Citizen Co-Existence


Over the past generation the unprecedented expansion of migration to Western countries has coincided with the global revitalization of religion. These two developments have raised deep questions about received values and practices of pluralist co-existence in Western societies—questions that are likely to remain at the heart of political and social debate in Western societies for some years to come. Read the full article »

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Local ‘Political Friendships’: The Key to Making Multiculturalism Work


The business of creating a more practical multiculturalism and overcoming the challenges presented by diversity is more complex than it first seems. My research set out to investigate how projects in the UK are bringing diverse groups together and forming what Harvard scholar Danielle Allen has called ‘political friendships’ across difference. Dialogue is all very well, but without tangible common action it is hard to create any sense of shared destiny. The future success of multiculturalism will not be won by lofty new theories or more debates on national identity, but by encouraging real relationships at a grass roots level between people of every background and belief. Read the full article »

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Community Organising and Congregating Values


The experiences of Christian, Muslim and Secular leaders involved in Community Organising in East London highlight the importance of learning from and accepting otherness. Although they have differing worldviews, they are able to compromise and work together for the common good in their community. However, the congregating of these values is not without its compromise and tension. Read the full article »

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The New Cosmopolitanism: Global Migration and the Building of a Common Life

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The Contending Modernities Global Migration working group is pleased to announce an interdisciplinary conference to be held in London, UK on 14 & 15 October 2013 – The New Cosmopolitanism: Global Migration and the Building of a Common Life. The conference grows out of the working group’s research project in London, which focuses on the ways that broad-based community organizing enables secular and religious citizens to build a common life. The conference will bring this research into dialogue with a wide range of theoretical and empirical research on the role of faith in public life in pluralist and culturally diverse societies. Read the full article »

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Community Organising in London’s Congolese Diaspora


Community organising has significant potential for redressing low levels of democratic participation – through processes which actively engage citizens, encourage integration, and allow the voices of all individuals to be heard at local, national and international levels. My experience of engaging members of London’s Congolese diaspora in community organising has highlighted the increasing demand for both intentional processes of integration, and the opening of spaces within which citizens can actively engage in public life. Read the full article »

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