The Hizmet Movement: Negating Radicalism and Countering Extremism

Abstract

If the relationship between education and conflict is taken into account it can be said that education has a great potential to make a profound contribution to preventing violent conflicts. There is an increasing recognition on the fact that civil society plays a significant role in conflict management and peace-building by participating, engaging and educating the grass roots. As a civic society, the Hizmet movement utilizes social capital in order to alleviate ethno-religious divisions in heterogeneous multi-ethnic communities around the world, and strives to provide the basic pre-conditions for a peace-oriented society to emerge from those communities. This study argues that the Hizmet movement’s educational and social activities in conflict zones have been helpful in minimizing ethno-religious conflicts in order to prevent violence in conflict-ridden zones of the globe.