Religion and Nationalism

Course Description:

Religion and Nationalism do not always lead together to war, but we find them interacting in many serious international conflicts and civil wars, not infrequently in cases of genocide and so-called ethnic cleansing. Religion is a pre-modern, old institution of civilization which changes much more frequently than religions institutions are ready to acknowledge and for some nonrecognition of socio-historical changes is a key article of faith. Nationalism is a modern ideology that advocates the creation of specific societal organization -- nation states. It unites individuals and groups through patriotic myths and rituals and the educational school system of national history, language and culture, and develops the awareness among citizens of the common origins, common historical experience, special role and significant accomplishments among other nations and differences between them. Religion by itself and as a substitute, derivative, and instrument of nationalism, can but does not need to have an important role in the creation of a nation -- this needs to be considered for each case. However, this course will concern these cases, that is national movements and nations in which the religious dimensions of nationalism are emphasized and in which complex conflicts have resulted in which both factors were active. Examples of such nationalisms exist in India, Pakistan, Northern Ireland, Palestine and elsewhere. It is also in the region of the former Yugoslavia states and states created by the collapse of multiethnic and multiconfessional Yugoslavs and its replacement by ethnic and ethno-confessional nationalisms with which this course will be most concerned.

Main Topics:

What is nationalism? Why are religions "national" and nationalism "religious"?
Nationalism, religion, and ethnicity.
Religious dimensions of nationalism: symbols, myths and patriotic rituals, selective historical memory, commemoration, the sacralization of politics and the state, cults of political leaders.
Examples of "religious nationalism" in the world (in detail: Northern Ireland and India-Pakistan).
The role of religion in national movements within Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks.
Religion and nationalism in the first Yugoslav state.
Religion and nationalism in socialist Yugoslavia.
Religion in the pre-war crisis and war.
The role of religion as a mobilizing instrument of nationalist movements and legitimizing mechanism of government in the post-Yugoslav states. Peaceful and humanitarian action in international, interethnic, and interconfessional conflicts.

Goals and methodology:

Through a brief theoretical introduction and comparative analysis as well as detailed analysis of the case of former Yugoslavia, the course will enable the participants to understand the phenomenon of nationalism and religion and explain the conditions under which their interaction develops and the resulting consequences. After introductory lectures, the participants based on selected texts and other sources will lead discussion directed by the course leader, discuss specific topics in working groups and prepare a final essay on an arranged topic.

Literature:

Excerpts from the instructor's lectures

Ernest Renan, „What is a nation?"

Historijski mitovi na Balkanu : zbornik radova. Prijevodi tekstova s engleskog Senada Kreso ; glavni i odgovorni urednik Husnija Kamberovic. Sarajevo : Institut za istoriju, 2003. (Pal Kolsto, "Uvod" i poglavlje Vjekoslav Perica "Uloga crkava u konstrukciji. . .").

Vjekoslav Perica. Balkanski idols : religion and nationalism in Yugoslav states

Sveti Petar i Sveti Sava. Sakralni simboli kao metafore povijesnih promjena. (Beograd: Bibiloteka xx vek, 2009 (izabrani dijelovi);

„The most Catholic nation in Europe? Church, State and Society in Contemporary Croatia", Religion, state & society, 4/2006.

Srdan Vrcan, Vjera u vrtlozima tranzicije, Split, 2000 (izabrani dijelovi).

Ivan Cvitkovic, Konfesija u ratu (izabrani dijelovi).

Dino Abazovic, Za naciju i za Boga, (izabrani dijelovi).

Alija Izetbegovic, Islamska deklaracija (izabrani dijelovi).

Medina Delalic i Suzana Sacic, Balkan bluz. Poglavlja: 1, 6, 15, prema feljtonu iz E-novina 06.11.2009

http://www.e-novine.com/feljton/31857-Muslimanski-intelektualci-stranci.html

"Demokratija i religija" izbor tekstova, Maribor/Beograd 2003.

The 2008 Peace Academy was so much more than just an academic exploration of the origins of violent conflict or the foundations of building peace. While investigating these and other topics with real intellectual rigour, the Academy also provided a rare opportunity to reflect on some of the largest questions facing activists and practitioners committed to non-violence and social justice. How do we construct a just and peaceful society? What are the roots of violent conflict in our communities and in ourselves? From which sources – cultural, historical, philosophical, religious, and others – do we draw strength and inspiration for our work? How do we build and sustain effective movements for non-violent social change? How should societies deal justly and non-violently with a violent past? What do I need to prepare myself for the challenges of this work?

The contributions of participants and lecturers to these discussions – both formal and informal – created an atmosphere that week in Sarajevo that was truly alive with dialogue and debate. The Peace Academy quickly established itself as an essential forum for ideas and for the forging of new networks among activists and practitioners in the region. In more than two decades of teaching and activism concerned with peace and human rights, I have rarely experienced a week as stimulating and rewarding as the 2008 Peace Academy. This was a week that challenged and changed me on so many levels, and the experience of mutual learning and personal growth that we shared in my course will remain important for me always. We need this Peace Academy even more than we could have imagined – and long may it flourish!

Brian Phillips, Lecturer – 2008 Peace Academy