Addressing the challenges of heresy in peacebuilding: evidence from the Ahmadiyya and Shia in Indonesia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper examines the challenges that accusations of heresy pose for peacebuilding processes. Although heresy is often viewed among the most intractable drivers of conflict, presenting an impenetrable impasse between minority and majority religious groups, little is known about its impact on peacebuilding processes. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in Indonesia, where claims of heresy have seen some members of the minority Islamic Ahmadiyya and Shia sects subjected to violence, discrimination, and displacement from their homes, the paper identifies the ongoing challenges that heresy claims are playing in these cases. It reveals the limitations of peacebuilding programmes that focus on converting heretics to mainstream religion, showing that, even when conversion efforts are successful, conflict often nevertheless continues. The paper offers some potential pathways forward for Indonesia’s peacebuilding processes.