Textbook Violence - James R. Lewis

Textbook Violence - James R. Lewis

Index

Textbook Violence - James R. Lewis

James R. Lewis [+-]
Wuhan University
James R. Lewis is Professor of Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University. He is well-published in the field of new religious movements. His publications and edited volumes include The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, Controversial New Religions (with Jesper Petersen), Scientology, Children of Jesus and Mary (with Nicholas Levine), and, most recently, Violence and New Religious Movements.
Bengt-Ove Andreassen [+-]
University of Tromsø
Bengt-Ove Andreassen is Professor in Religious Studies at the University of Tromsø. He is also guest scholar in religious studies at University of Bergen in the period 2011-2013. One of his areas for research is themes related to religion in education and how perspectives from the academic study of religion can be applied in and to develop religion education (RE) in public school. Some publications: “On Ethics and religious culture (ERC) in Québec. Comments and comparative perspectives from a Norwegian and European context” in Religion & Education 38(3)(2011), Religionsdidaktikk. En innføring. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget (2012) (220 pages), and “Cristianity as culture and religions as religions. An analysis of the Core Curriculum as framwork for Norwegian RE” (forthcoming).
Suzanne Anett Thobro [+-]
University of Tromsø
Suzanne Anett Thobro is a Fellow in the Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø.

Description

Facing issues of violence and conflict, authors of textbooks for Religious Education (RE) choose a range of different strategies. While some try to write as non-controversially as possible about such issues, other authors choose to leave them completely out. Even in the academic study of religions, a well-established perspective is that religion is primarily something good, and important for societies as well as for human development. Such basic presumptions/perspectives are often nurtured by an apologetic orientation to the representation of religion. In some cases, religious violence and conflict are therefore considered disruptive forces that destroy what is “true,” “authentic” and “valuable” in religion. Textbook Violence offers critical perspectives on how textbooks deal or not deal with issues of conflict and violence in religions. The volume’s contributions provide examples from textbooks for university level as well as from RE in schools, and include discussions of conflict and violence in a range of different religious traditions. The contributors bring issues of religious violence and conflict into focus through such questions as: In what way is violence and/or conflict treated? Who are the authorial voices? What are their aims? Who is the reader being addressed? How are the representations of religions framed by value judgments? Beyond certain obvious ideological considerations (e.g., nationalism; the interests of religious pedagogues who contribute to textbooks in some countries), there are a number of different factors shaping representations of religions in textbooks – from commercial considerations and statutory stipulations to situations where publishers and national examination boards work closely together to produce textbooks with contents keyed to national exams. This means that authors have to face different expectations and considerations when writing textbooks. Textbook Violence will also include reflections on the choices such authors are facing.

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Citation

Lewis, James; Andreassen, Bengt-Ove ; Thobro, Suzanne . Index. Textbook Violence. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 220-223 Aug 2017. ISBN 9781781792599. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=34579. Date accessed: 05 Oct 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.34579. Aug 2017

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