9. Islamization, Civil Society and Religious Minorities in Malaysia

2005 ◽  
pp. 162-190 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Religious Minorities

scholarly journals Introduction: States, Critical Citizens, and the Challenge of Democratization in Southeast Asia

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-142
Author(s):  
LILY ZUBAIDAH RAHIM ◽  
JULIET PIETSCH
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The Political ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Critical Citizens ◽  
Freedom House

The political trajectories in Southeast Asia are much more complex than neat theoretical models would suggest. In particular, the diverse experience of post-authoritarian states are far from linear – often moving forward, backward, and forward again, or stalling for a number of years. Political trajectories can thus be uneven and erratic, as exemplified by Thailand's military coups, graduating from hegemonic to competitive electoral authoritarian rule in Singapore and Malaysia and lingering within the zone of low-quality democracy as characterized by Indonesia's poor governance and neo-patrimonial dynamics. Indeed, since 2014, Freedom House no longer classifies Indonesia as ‘Free’, following the passage of legislation restricting the activity of civil society and the human rights violations against religious minorities. Similarly, Thailand lost its ‘Free’ ranking in 2006 and the Philippines in 2007.

Religion, welfare and gender: the post-communist experience

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siniša Zrinščak
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Great Difficulty ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Complex Situation ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Catholic Churches

This chapter looks at the complex situation in post-communist Europe, where the transition from a command economy to a neoliberal system has created new forms of exclusion, with rudimentary or conservative welfare regimes that have great difficulty in providing social coverage for every citizen. Post-communist countries have different degrees of familism and different degrees of civil society activism. Both Croatia and Poland—with their dominant Catholic churches and welfare charities—are somewhat similar to Italy, while Romania—with its dominant Orthodox Church—shares some similarities with Greece, but with a weaker social and religious organisation. In Latvia, there are Lutheran, Catholic and Orthodox churches that are related to different ethnic and language groups. In all post-communist cases, religious minorities are more or less welcomed, but their welfare activities are mostly directed towards their own members. This is exemplified by the neo-Protestant minorities in Poland and Romania that have developed extensive social assistance networks.

Remarks by Donald Steinberg

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 235-238
Author(s):  
Donald Steinberg
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Older Men ◽  
Conflict Transformation ◽  
Direct Experience ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Marginalized Groups ◽  
The U.S

My work over the last forty-five years has been at the intersection of human rights, conflict transformation, and development with the U.S. government, civil society, and the United Nations. The clearest lesson I have learned is that peaceful, prosperous, and just societies only emerge when we draw on the leadership and contributions of all of society, including women, people with disabilities, racial and religious minorities, the LGBTQ community, displaced persons, and other marginalized groups. The paradox we face is that most of the policymakers and gatekeepers who are key to ensuring this diversity and inclusion are people like me: privileged, straight, older men with little direct experience of exclusion and abuse based on identity factors.

scholarly journals Evangelical Protestants of Eurasia: an active mission in the context of its limitations

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 47-50
Author(s):  
Mychailo Cherenkov
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Evangelical Protestants ◽  
Restrictive Policy

Against the background of major events and processes in the religious life of Eurasia, the situation around religious minorities, perhaps Protestantism, is perhaps the most vulnerable of all. As a rule, evangelical Protestants feel the restrictive policy of the state before others, so what happens to them can be an illustration of a larger trend towards the narrowing of freedom that threatens the entire civil society of Russia and the region as a whole.

Understanding religious minority communities as civil society actors

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annette Leis-Peters
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Research Design ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Minority Communities ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Accurate Picture ◽  
Majority Culture ◽  
Younger Generation

This chapter argues that research in the field of religious minorities needs to move away from the perspective of the majority society in favour of a civil society approach in which the interests of the religious minorities are built into the research design. The younger generation is under pressure not only to assimilate the values of the majority culture when it comes to professional development, but also to maintain the family's traditional—that is, religious—values. Integrating the perspectives of the religious minority communities into the research design itself permits markedly more nuanced findings, offering a more in-depth and accurate picture of the new ecology of religion.

Iranian religious minorities may face new persecution

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Government ◽  
Religious Establishment

Significance This reminder of the country’s past religious diversity belies the strong dominance of the Shia religious establishment. President Hassan Rouhani has repeatedly promised to address the needs of religious minorities but has done little in practice. Since protests in early 2018, attacks have intensified, especially on Sufis. Impacts The space for civil society engagement will narrow, as the government steps up monitoring of NGOs. Sunnis will face significant pressure and surveillance to prevent Islamic State (IS) or Saudi infiltration. Rouhani will not make good on campaign pledges to appoint religious minorities to cabinet posts.

Madkhali-Salafi influence in Libya may spread further

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Agenda ◽  
Public Role ◽  
Investment Opportunities ◽  
Military Strength ◽  
East And West

Significance A component of key armed factions in both east and west, they have used their resulting military strength to impose their anti-democratic worldview and hardline social agenda. Their rise has alarmed many, including civil society advocates and religious minorities who fear further targeting, and has led to clashes in some areas. Impacts Growing Madkhali influence threatens Libya’s already constrained civil society space. Libyan women, who have seen their public role diminished, fear that a more empowered Madkhali current could accelerate the trend. Madkhali preaching against Western organisations risks stoking wider anti-Western sentiment that can affect investment opportunities.

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