In den heutigen multiethnischen und multikulturellen asiatischen Kontexten ist religiöse Vielfalt für viele Gesellschaften kennzeichnend. Dieses Buch bietet neue Einblicke in die gegenwärtige Situation des religiösen Lebens in Hongkong, Indien, Indonesien, Japan, Malaysia und Myanmar, beleuchtet den Einfluss religiösen Engagements im öffentlichen Raum und stellt dar, wie christliche Theologie sich mit den gegenwärtigen Realitäten in Asien auseinandersetzt. Christliche Theologen aus verschiedenen Denominationen reflektieren in diesem Band auf faszinierende Weise über Rechtfertigung, Erlösung, den Heiligen Geist und die Trinität und diskutieren die wechselseitigen komplexen Entwicklungen sowohl in und als auch zwischen den asiatischen Gesellschaften und weltweit. In today's multi-ethnic and multi-cultural Asian contexts, religious plurality is one of the hallmarks of many societies. This book provides new insights into the current realities of religious life in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Myanmar, highlights the influence of religious commitment on the public space, and examines how Christian theology engages with contemporary realities in Asia. Christian theologians of different denominations offer fascinating theological reflections on justification, salvation, the Holy Spirit and the Trinity, and discuss interactions within and between Asian societies as well as with the world at large.

Taking a critical approach to the concept of ‘religious pluralism’, this book examines the dynamics of religious co-existence in Asia as they are directly addressed by governments, or indirectly managed by groups and individuals. It looks at the quality of relations that emerge in encounters among people of different religious traditions or among people who hold different visions within the same tradition. Chapters focus in particular on the places of everyday religious diversity in Asian societies in order to explore how religious groups have confronted new situations of religious diversity. The book goes on to explore the conditions under which active religious pluralism emerges (or not) from material contexts of diversity.

This volume explores the implications of pluralism for international order. Distinguished contributors from around the world offer insights into the character of a pluralistic world order. They focus especially on the manifestations of international pluralism in great power relations, multilateralism, and regionalism. Contributors examine the myriad challenges a pluralistic world order will face in the years ahead, yet they eschew alarmist conclusions. There is still scope for the great powers to better manage their relations, and equally important, much space for multilateralism and regionalism to play their increasingly important roles in stabilizing world order. Distinctive in bringing the themes of pluralism and world order together in both theoretical exposition and policy discussion, this book offers a stimulating reading for scholars and practitioners of world politics.

Few challenges to the modern dream of democratic citizenship appear greater than the presence of severe ethnic, religious, and linguistic divisions in society. With their diverse religions and ethnic communities, the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia have grappled with this problem since achieving independence after World War II. Each country has on occasion been torn by violence over the proper terms for accommodating pluralism. Until the Asian economic crisis of 1997, however, these nations also enjoyed one of the most sustained economic expansions the non-Western world has ever seen. This timely volume brings together fifteen leading specialists of the region to consider the impact of two generations of nation-building and market-making on pluralism and citizenship in these deeply divided Asian societies. Examining the new face of pluralism from the perspective of markets, politics, gender, and religion, the studies show that each country has developed a strikingly different response to the challenges of citizenship and diversity. The contributors, most of whom come Southeast Asia, pay particular attention to the tension between state and societal approaches to citizenship. They suggest that the achievement of an effectively participatory public sphere in these countries will depend not only on the presence of an independent "civil society," but on a synergy of state and society that nurtures a public culture capable of mediating ethnic, religious, and gender divides. The Politics of Multiculturalism will be of special interest to students of Southeast Asian history and society, anthropologists grappling with questions of citizenship and culture, political scientists studying democracy across cultures, and all readers concerned with the prospects for civility and tolerance in a multicultural world.

This volume explores the different ways that ethnic and religious diversity is conceptualized and debated in South and East Asia. In the first few decades following decolonization, talk of multiculturalism and pluralism was discouraged, as states attempted to consolidate themselves as unitary and homogenizing nation-states. Today, however, it is widely recognized that states in the region must come to terms with the enduring reality of ethnic and religious cleavages, and find new ways of accommodating and respecting diversity. As a result, many countries are now debating policies to accommodate minorities, including recognition of indigenous rights, minority language rights, consociational power-sharing, regional autonomy, and multination federalism. This is often described as a key ingredient in any process of democratization in the region. One manifestation of this new ethos is the growing rhetoric of 'multiculturalism', often imported from the West. And indeed Western models of minority rights have had an influence in many Asian countries, often promoted by international organizations. However, Asian societies also have their own traditions of peaceful coexistence amongst linguistic and religious groups. All of the major ethical and religious traditions in the region - from Confucian and Buddhist to Islamic and Hindu - have their own conceptions of tolerance, and their own recipes for sustaining unity amidst diversity. These traditions continue to shape people's beliefs and practices in the region. Even the distinctive conception of Marxism developed in the region provides an influential perspective on these issues not found in the West. The rhetoric of 'multiculturalism' may be ubiquitous around the world, but it is being used to express quite different ideas and norms. Using both case studies and thematic essays, this volume examines the pre-colonial traditions, colonial legacies, and post-colonial ideologies that influence contemporary debates on multiculturalism in the region. It explores the areas of convergence and divergence between these different perspectives, and the extent to which they provide viable frameworks for managing ethnic and religious diversity in the region.

This book examines the presence of ethnic, religious, political, and ideational pluralities in Southeast Asian societies and how their respective constitutions respond to these pluralities. Countries covered in this book are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. The chapters examine: first, the range of pluralist constitutional values and ideas embodied in the constitutions; secondly, the pluralist sources of constitutional norms; thirdly, the design of constitutional structures responding to various pluralities; and fourthly, the construction and interpretation of bills of rights in response to existing pluralities. The 'pluralist constitution' is thus one that recognises internal pluralities within society and makes arrangements to accommodate, rather than eliminate, these pluralities.

This special issue includes 11 articles from the Inaugural Conference of the East Asian Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. It offers theoretical and methodological reflections, and covers various religions in different East Asian societies and diasporic communities.