Religious Engagement in Global Affairs: a New Interreligious Dynamic for the Good of Humanity?

Abstract This editorial introduces the Religion & Development Special Issue Religious Engagement in Global Affairs: A New Interreligious Dynamic for the Good of Humanity? Over the last twenty years, “religious engagement” has become a key concept for the study and practice of global affairs, creating new opportunities, strategies, and practices for multireligious collaboration with international institutions in the fields of peace, development, and humanitarian aid. It has also raised questions about the effectiveness of this new approach, including about its ideals and values as well as its limits and risks. This editorial presents some of the key efforts by these international community organizations to engage religious actors in the field of humanitarian development, with particular attention to the growth of religious engagement efforts within the various offices of the United Nations. It also presents some of the key questions scholars have explored regarding the nature, meaning, and context, both religious and political, of these new practices of religious engagement. In doing so, the editorial introduces the research and policy and practice notes of the present volume, highlights the new case studies they chronicle about religious engagement in global politics, and reflects on the contributions and themes raised by the scholars and practitioners throughout the volume.