Alternative religious responses to the ethnic crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Faith-based peace and reconciliation

Religion is often accused of intolerance towards other religions and, consequently, religious diversity in a society is assumed to be a cause for crisis, instability, and even armed violence. Yet religious faith also serves as a basis of shared values and a motivator for reconciliation and mutual understanding for many ‘believers’. Using examples from post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, Julianne Funk (University of Zurich), will explore this dynamic according to her qualitative empirical research, but also using a framework of religions’ four social functions in ethnic conflict (Jonathan Fox). Given our current affairs, this research has notably emphasized the work of Muslim peacemakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina.