"The following stories come from ten pesantren (Islamic boarding schools) in Indonesia that participated in Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Indonesia’s project to promote peace and tolerance in pesantren across Indonesia [...] Search for Common Ground (SFCG) Indonesia implemented this two-year pro
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ject from September 2011 to February 2014, in partnership with The Wahid Institute and Perhimpunan Pengembangan Pesantren dan Masyarakat (P3M). With a total number of 18,000 schools across Indonesia, pesantren are the oldest basis of Islamic education in the country and highly influential in spreading tolerance and peace. Through the production of radio and short films by pesantren students or santri, SFCG Indonesia sought to encourage male and female pesantren leaders, teachers and students to be critical in dealing with problems of intolerance and radicalism, while also disseminating the values of tolerance and peace in their communities. The stories documented in this book serve as a future reference of the project’s successes. The book records the significant changes experienced by the santri and their teachers, when these changes occurred and the important lessons learned from this project. Out of the ten pesantren that participated in the project, SFCG selected five pesantren to provide stories that illustrate the changes mentioned above. This book summarizes seven stories from the perspectives of pesantren students, leaders and teachers." (Foreword)
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"Generally, the book’s chapters are arrayed in three broad clusters that each makes the case for strategic peacebuilding in a different way. Chapters 1 through 4 set forth strategic peacebuilding at a general, conceptual level: the theory of strategic peacebuilding. Chapters 5 through 8 make up a
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second cluster, one that presents peacebuilding “from above,” that is, with a central stress on international institutions, especially the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. Chapters 9 through 13 form the third and fi nal grouping, presenting peacebuilding “from below,” emphasizing the role of civil society, economic, religious, educational, and other nongovernmental actors. That these divisions are not perfect is entirely to be expected: linkages between levels are a leitmotif in strategic peacebuilding. The essays in the second cluster call for international institutions to be linked to the work of national and nongovernmental actors, and several of those in the third cluster advocate the same sort of links in the other direction. The clusters are a matter of emphasis." (Introduction, page 11)
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"The volume begins with a general overview of faith-based peacebuilding by pastor and peace-practitioner David Steele. Several CRS staff members provided input on the early drafts [...] The case studies that follow all deal with initiatives involving Catholic actors. This is the tradition out of whi
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ch CRS functions, and within which it learns. However, CRS and its church partners frequently and intentionally act in tandem with other civil society organizations, and they cooperate with other faith-based actors. Two of the case studies in this work (one from Uganda and one from The Philippines) deal with inter-religious efforts, while a third (India) deals with a broad ecumenical effort among leaders and members of diverse Christian denominations. In addition, many cases demonstrate how church partners are able to engage key decision-makers and leaders at different levels of society at critical moments in the course of a conflict. The central learning question for all the case studies is “what are the key factors that have contributed to, or impeded, the effectiveness of church peacebuilding action?” The intent is to surface lessons while helping to develop an internal, disciplined habit of reflection within the organization. The general guidelines for writing the studies emphasize four good learning practices: a) linking interventions to the context, b) articulating the implicit and explicit hypotheses or “theories of change,” c) using, building upon and/or complementing evaluation, and d) recognizing potential rival explanations for why things happened. It should be clear that the cases are exemplary, not representative. They provide a small sampling of the peacebuilding activities conducted by CRS and its partners in recent years. Each CRS region freely determined which particular case it would bring to the undertaking. Adherence to the initial qualifying criteria — including engagement with external actors (civil society, government or inter-religious) and commitments to social cohesion or equity — varied considerably." (Introduction, page 3-4)
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