Getting to reconciliation: Lonergan and religious conflict transformation

Abstract

Conventional Conflict Resolution has typically denied religion a place around its table. However, with the emergence of alternative conflict practitioners, such as John- Paul Lederach, and the recognition of the positive contribution of Christianity in the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, experts increasingly support the involvement of religious perspectives and practices in conflict transformation. The aim of this thesis is to introduce Bernard Lonergan’s dialectical philosophy to the discipline of religious conflict transformation. In particular, an in-depth look at Lonergan’s dialectic of history, which integrates the elements of progress, decline, and redemption, provides a framework from which to understand the transformation of conflict that operates within a religious perspective. Using Lonergan’s dialectic, the thesis considers both Lonerganian and religious conflict transformation scholars with the aim of promoting not just resolution – the end of violent conflict – but reconciliation – the re-visioning and rebuilding of relationships with a common shared future. The long-term goal is to make Lonergan’s method accessible to conflict transformation practitioners and, in effect, increasing the probability of a shift towards reconciliation as a realizable goal for conflict.