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Articles 1 - 17 of 17
Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Understanding Myanmar’S Buddhist Extremists: Some Preliminary Musings, Kumar Ramakrishna
Understanding Myanmar’S Buddhist Extremists: Some Preliminary Musings, Kumar Ramakrishna
New England Journal of Public Policy
This article examines Buddhist extremism in Myanmar. It argues that Buddhist extremism—like other types of religious extremism—is an acute form of fundamentalism. The article begins with a survey of how extremism is usually understood in the theoretical literature, showing that its religious variant is best conceived of as an acute form of fundamentalism. It then fine tunes this understanding, arguing that religious extremism is a fundamentalist belief system that justifies structural violence against relevant out-groups. The article outlines seven core characteristics of the religious extremist culled from the various theoretical approaches to extremism. It employs these seven characteristics to examine …
Damnatio Memoriae: On Deleting The East From Western History, Koert Debeuf
Damnatio Memoriae: On Deleting The East From Western History, Koert Debeuf
New England Journal of Public Policy
The story we read in books about the Renaissance tells us that Petrarch and Poggio rediscovered the books of antiquity that had been copied for centuries in medieval abbeys. The re-introduction of Greek science and philosophy, however, began in the twelfth century but occurred mainly in the thirteenth century. These works were first translated into Syriac and Arabic in the eighth and ninth centuries and stored in the House of Wisdom in Baghdad. There they were read, used, and commented on by Arab philosophers, of whom the most famous was Averroes (1126–1198), who lived in Cordoba. The translation of his …
The Crisis Of Cultures And The Vitality Of Values: A Commentary On Emmanuel Macron’S Declaration Of The Need For Religion, Scott Atran
New England Journal of Public Policy
French president Emmanuel Macron’s claim that society needs religion is explored in the light of rising populism and illiberalism, and failures allied to the forced gamble of globalization. Historical and experimental research indicates that the universal religions have no fixed meanings or essences that drive followers. Religions have adapted to many contexts and cultures because core elements are believed sacred and transcendental, that is, non-negotiable, logically inscrutable, empirically unverifiable or falsifiable and therefore always open to interpretation under changing sociopolitical influences. Recent studies in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe suggest that “devoted actors” committed to transcendental causes are …
Studies On Religion And Recidivism: Focus On Roxbury, Dorchester, And Mattapan, George Walters-Sleyon
Studies On Religion And Recidivism: Focus On Roxbury, Dorchester, And Mattapan, George Walters-Sleyon
Trotter Review
This research article raises the question of whether religion can be considered a viable partner in the reduction of the high rate of recidivism associated with the increasing mass incarceration in the United States. Can sustainable transformation in the life of a prisoner or former prisoner as a result of religious conversion be subjected to evidenced-based practices to derive impartial conclusions about the value of religion in their lives? With a particular focus on three neighborhoods of Boston—Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan—this study examines the relevance of religion and faith-based organizations in lowering the high rate of recidivism associated with incarceration …
Gray Matters Behind Bars, Howard Manly
Gray Matters Behind Bars, Howard Manly
Trotter Review
Forty years ago, the nation got tough on crime. It is now paying the price as the skyrocketing cost of incarcerating aging inmates is haunting state and federal prison budgets.
Tapping The Wisdom Of Our Ancestors: An Attempt To Recast Vodou And Morality Through The Voice Of Mama Lola And Karen Mccarthy Brown, Claudine Michel
Tapping The Wisdom Of Our Ancestors: An Attempt To Recast Vodou And Morality Through The Voice Of Mama Lola And Karen Mccarthy Brown, Claudine Michel
Trotter Review
In this essay, I demonstrate that morality is culture-specific and contextual. To illustrate this point, I focus on Vodou, a religion that has been almost entirely misrepresented in the West, foremost because of its African origins, and that is perceived as having no legitimate basis for morality. I attempt to interpret morality in Vodou by presenting a model of ethics construction based on the true meaning of the religion rather than on the exotica of its myths and ritualizing. My analysis is based on the fact that Haitians seem to have turned to their ancestral religion and to their African …
From Just War To Just Intervention, Susan J. Atwood
From Just War To Just Intervention, Susan J. Atwood
New England Journal of Public Policy
What is Just War? What is Just Intervention? This paper examines the evolution of the criteria for Just War from its origins in the early Christian church to the twenty-first century. The end of the Cold War era has expanded the discussion to include grounds for intervention. Indeed, in the 1990s, a number of multilateral interventions took place on humanitarian grounds. But the debate is ongoing about whether the criteria applied in the Just War theory — proper authority, just cause, and right intent — remain valid in an era of Just Intervention. The author examines as case studies some …
Towards Understanding The Emergence Of African-American Church Schools: Early Hypotheses And A Research Agenda, Georgia A. Persons
Towards Understanding The Emergence Of African-American Church Schools: Early Hypotheses And A Research Agenda, Georgia A. Persons
Trotter Review
A survey of the Atlanta metropolitan area reveals a growing trend in African-American church sponsored schools. The emergence of these schools is curious in that it is counterintuitive to the protection of the public school system on which the majority of African-Americans rely; the schools are mainly in the suburbs where the public schools offer relatively high standards of education; and there seems to be no public debate accompanying a trend that is likely to have far-reaching public policy implications. In this article, the author discusses the possible reasons for the emergence of these schools and the potential public policy …
Nation Of Islam In Civil Society: An Interview With Minister Don Muhammad, Castellano Turner
Nation Of Islam In Civil Society: An Interview With Minister Don Muhammad, Castellano Turner
Trotter Review
From Castellano Turner: It was a genuine pleasure to interview Minister Don Muhammad on the topic, "The Nation of Islam in civil society." The reader will be struck, as I was, by the detail and historical reach in his analysis of the Nation of Islam's consistency and evolution as a movement among Black Americans. Those who remember the Black activist rhetoric of the 1960s and 1970s will hear echoes of those volatile times. Many of the most radical groups of those times have faded into history; but like the Black church, the value and commitment of the Nation of Islam …
Delivering Social Services Through Faith-Based Organizations: Case Of United Way Of Massachusetts Bay, Kevin Peterson
Delivering Social Services Through Faith-Based Organizations: Case Of United Way Of Massachusetts Bay, Kevin Peterson
Trotter Review
As deliverers of social services, faith-based organizations have been stereotyped as being inefficient and focused on spiritual outcomes alone, and have therefore been largely ignored by funding agencies. The United Way of Massachusetts Bay, realizing the importance of such organizations, particularly in communities of color, has actively sought to dispel these stereotypes and work with faith-based organizations to enhance service delivery to needy Black communities in Massachusetts. Through training and participatory research, faith-based organizations have begun to appreciate the importance of measurable outcomes.
The Enduring Black Church And Its Critics: A Book Review Of Omar Mcroberts's Streets Of Glory, Kenneth D. Johnson
The Enduring Black Church And Its Critics: A Book Review Of Omar Mcroberts's Streets Of Glory, Kenneth D. Johnson
Trotter Review
This review examines several theses and methodologies regarding Black Church activism and contribution to community economic development in an economically depressed inner city neighborhood as presented in Omar McRoberts's Streets of Glory (University of Chicago Press, 2003). It finds the questions of interest, but empirical support for many of the author's theses lacking when considered from a cross-comparative national perspective.
Moral Value And Market Values: The Impact On Africa In An Era Of Global Capitalism, Charles Stith
Moral Value And Market Values: The Impact On Africa In An Era Of Global Capitalism, Charles Stith
Trotter Review
In the era of global capitalism, the perennial tension between market and moral values has acquired new form and meaning. Ambassador Stith attempts to unravel the issues of morality within the context of a global market in recession, stagnated economies of the developing world, ever-changing technology and the reality of terrorism. Stith contends that the church has largely failed to reconcile the morality that it teaches, with the market in which it operates. He makes the argument that moral values are not just desirable; they are necessary for long-term survival of both the developing and developed world. The key, is …
Redeeming The City: Exploring The Relationship Between Church And Metropolis, Meredith Ramsay
Redeeming The City: Exploring The Relationship Between Church And Metropolis, Meredith Ramsay
New England Journal of Public Policy
The author calls attention to a neglected force in urban political life by highlighting how positivism undermined scholarly interest in cultural forces, particularly religion. She shows that although community organizing was formerly led by leftist radicals, today it is led by the church. Five factors contribute to the leading role of congregations in grassroots organizing and urban revitalization. Analysis and interpretation of these factors led the author to conclude that secularization and urban restructuring have left only the church with a sufficient moral and institutional presence in distressed urban neighborhoods to spearhead a return to more direct participatory forms of …
Religious Institutions And Black Political Activism, Frederick C. Harris
Religious Institutions And Black Political Activism, Frederick C. Harris
Trotter Review
During the modern Civil Rights Movement religious institutions provided critical organizational resources for protest mobilization. As Aldon Morris' extensive study of the southern Civil Rights Movement noted, the Black Church served as the "organizational hub of Black life," providing the resources that fostered—along with other indigenous groups and institutions—collective protest against a system of white domination in the South.
The Church And Negro Progress, George E. Haynes
The Church And Negro Progress, George E. Haynes
Trotter Review
The marked progress of the Negro in America in which the church has been a factor has been of three general types. The first is intra-group advancement in such phases of life as education and wealth. The second is inter-group adjustments between the Negro population and the white population in such matters as economic relationships, citizenship rights and privileges, interracial contacts and fellowship. There is a third type of progress which touches both the internal and external life of the Negro group such as the cultural contributions of Negroes which have gradually been incorporated into our common life. There are, …
Public Sector And Black Church Partnerships: A New Public Policy Tool, Marjorie B. Lewis
Public Sector And Black Church Partnerships: A New Public Policy Tool, Marjorie B. Lewis
Trotter Review
Since the mid-sixties, local, state and federal policies and their resulting agencies have been involved in an ongoing war on poverty. The goals of this effort have been to eradicate poverty through exogenous motivators, which include "work fare" programs, "head start" programs, and welfare "reform" initiatives. As well-intentioned as these efforts may have been, results have proven less than successful, particularly for inner-city African-American youth. In his paper, "The Rich Get Richer and the Black Poor Get Poorer," Samuel Myers reiterates this assessment, and shows that the plight of the inner-city dweller who is poor, uneducated, and African American has …
The Catholic Church And The Desegregation Of Boston's Public Schools, James E. Glinski
The Catholic Church And The Desegregation Of Boston's Public Schools, James E. Glinski
New England Journal of Public Policy
Recent studies of Boston 's desegregation crisis, most notably J. Anthony Lukas's Common Ground, have been highly critical of the Catholic church and its local leader, Humberto Cardinal Medeiros, archbishop of Boston. Their criticisms have been that the church, guided by the ineffective leadership of Cardinal Medeiros in an effort to save its own schools, allowed its schools to become havens for those Bostonians attempting to escape busing. This article is an account of the church's effort to develop a desegregation policy that would allow it to preserve its own schools but not at the expense of court-ordered desegregation …