With the dawn of the modern era and the advancement of globalization in all forms and domains, interfaith dialogue and reconciliation have become an essential enterprise in our diverse and diversifying world. In this emerging and extensive enterprise, ecumenical engagement and interdenominational reconciliation are of great importance, for they foster cross-communal tolerance and harmony, mitigate sectarian differences, curb exclusionary rhetoric and discriminatory policies, and cultivate a conciliatory and constructive religious environment. This study focuses on institutional efforts to advance Islamic ecumenism in recent decades and examines Iran’s state-backed World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought aka Tehran’s Ecumenical Society (TES). It aims to investigate the context and forces that led to the formation and evolution of this ecumenical organization, analyze its structure, methodology, strategy, and performance across the past three decades, explore its negotiation with Iranian domestic and regional policies, and discuss the array of shortcomings and proposals and possibilities to tackle them. Drawing on the vast literature of interfaith and ecumenical studies, statecraft, foreign policy, and organizational studies, and by examining TES’s available documents and publications, this dissertation conducts multidisciplinary research on the most important Islamic ecumenical institution, contributing to the fields of faith-based organizations, Middle East politics, Islamic studies, and interfaith relations. This work demonstrates the many ways a government-led ecumenical society inevitably gets instrumentalized to advance the state’s ideology and interests at home and abroad. The politicized manipulation of the ecumenical body, strategy, and initiatives by a Shi’ite theocracy equipped with an Islamic ideology and an aim for regional supremacy undermines its capacity to foster an inclusive ecology, develop critical and rigorous theoretical literature, and devise innovative and effective initiatives. / Religion
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TEMPLE/oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/7979 |
| Date | January 2022 |
| Creators | Shekarchi, Ashkan, 0000-0002-5311-9588 |
| Contributors | Blankinship, Khalid Yahya, Alpert, Rebecca T. (Rebecca Trachtenberg), 1950-, White, Sydney Davant, Yom, Sean L. |
| Publisher | Temple University. Libraries |
| Source Sets | Temple University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 488 pages |
| Rights | IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/7951, Theses and Dissertations |
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